LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

CALIf-ORNIA 

SANTA    CRUZ 


SANTA     CRUZ 


Gift  of 
MARION   R.   WALKER 

in  memory  of  his  grandfather 
THE  HON.  MARION  CANNON   • 
M.C.  1892-94  * 


SANTA     CRUZ 


' 


MEMORIAL  ADDRESSES 


LIFE   AND    CHARACTER 


FRANCIS  B.  SPINOLA, 

A  REPRESENTATIVE  FROM  NEW  YORK, 


DELIVERED   IN   THE 


HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  AND  IN  THE  SENATE, 


FIFTY-SECOND     CONORESS. 


PUBLISHED  BY  ORDER  OF  CONGRESS. 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTING   OFFICE. 
1893 


Resolved  by  the  House  of  Representatives  (the  Senate  concurring),  That  there 
be  printed  of  the  eulogies  delivered  in  Congress  upon  the  Hon.  Francis 
B.  Spinola,  late  a  Representative  from  the  State  of  New  York,  8,000 
copies,  "which  shall  include  50  copies  to  be  bound  in  full  morocco,  to  be 
delivered  to  the  family  of  the  deceased,  "and  of  those  remaining,  2,600 
copies  shall  be  for  the  use  of  the  Senate  and  5,350  copies  for  the  use  of  the 
House  of  Representatives ;  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  directed 
to  have  engraved  and  printed  a  portrait  of  the  said  Francis  B.  Spinola  to 
accompany  said  eulogies. 

Agreed  to  in  the  House  of  Representatives  July  29,  1892. 

Agreed  to  in  the  Senate  December  15,  1892. 
2 


E 

66V 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 


ANNOUNCEMENT  OF  DEATH. 


JANUARY  27, 1892. 

Mr.  COCKRAN,  of  New  York.  Mr.  Speaker,  it  is  with  sincere 
sorrow  that  I  announce  the  death  of  Hon.  FRANCIS  B.  SPI- 
NOLA,  a  Eepresentative  from  New  York  in  the  Fiftieth  and 
Fifty-first  Congresses  and  also  a  Representative-elect  from  that 
State,  and  my  immediate  predecessor.  Later  in  the  session  I 
shall  ask  the  House  to  take  appropriate  action  in  regard  to  his 
death. 

I  ask  the  adoption  of  the  resolutions  which  I  send  to  the 
desk. 

The  Clerk  read  as  follows : 

Resolved,  That  the  House  has  heard  with  deep  regret  and  profound  sorrow 
of  the  death  of  Hon.  FRANCIS  B.  SPINOLA,  late  a  Representative  from  the 
State  of  New  York. 

Resolved,  That  the  Clerk  be  directed  to  communicate  a  copy  of  these 
resolutions  to  the  Senate. 

Resolved,  That  as  a  further  mark  of  respect  the  House  do  now  adjourn. 

The  question  being  taken,  the  resolutions  submitted  by  Mr. 
Cockran  were  unanimously  adopted;  and  in  accordance  there- 
with (at  4  o'clock  and  25  minutes  p.  m.)  the  House  adjourned. 

3 


Address  of  Mr,  Cockran,  of  New  York,  on  the 


EULOGIES 


ADDRESS  OF  MR.  COCKRAN,  OF  NEW  YORK. 

MARCH  26,  1892. 

Mr.  SPEAKER  :  1  rise  to  move  the  adoption  of  a  resolution 
expressing  the  feeling  of  profound  sorrow  with  which  this 
House  has  learned  of  the  death  of  FRANCIS  B.  SPINOLA,  late 
a  member  from  New  York. 

The  span  of  Gen.  SPINOLA'S  life,  lasting  as  it  did,  some 
seventy  years,  covered  a  period  of  the  deepest  interest  in  the 
history  of  the  world.  Born  during  that  period  of  torpor  into 
which  the  world  seemed  to  have  sank  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
Napoleonic  wars,  he  reached  man's  estate  about  the  time 
when  the  great  inventions  of  the  railway  and  telegraph  began 
to  multiply  the  activities  of  the  human  race  and  to  broaden 
the  boundaries  of  civilization. 

He  was  always  deeply  interested  in  the  development  of  our 
national  institutions.  At  an  early  period  of  his  career  he 
took  an  active  part  in  the  political  contests  of  his  State.  He 
was  several  times  chosen  by  the  people  of  his  neighborhood 
an  alderman  of  the  city  of  Brooklyn,  and  subsequently  he 
became  a  member  of  the  senate  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

When  the  country  became  plunged  in  the  throes  of  civil 
war  and  the  life  of  the  nation  was  staked  on  an  issue  of  arms 
he  drew  his  sword  in  defense  of  the  Federal  Union. 


Life  and  Character  of  Francis  B.  Spinola.  5 

When  peace  was  restored  he  again  became  active  in  the 
public  life  of  his  State.  He  was  several  times  elected  to  the 
State  legislature  from  the  city  of  New  York,  where  he  had 
fixed  his  residence  after  his  retirement  from  the.  army,  and  in 
1886  he  was  chosen  a  Representative  in  Congress  and  con- 
tinued to  serve  as  a  member  of  the  House  to  the  end  of  his  life. 

During  his  long  career  he  was  always  a  vigorous  fighter, 
but  neither  friend  nor  foe  ever  questioned  his  loyalty.  He  had 
many  political  opponents ;  he  had  no  personal  enemies. 

With  the  doctrine  of  secession  he  would  tolerate  neither  dis- 
cussion nor  compromise,  but  he  regarded  the  civil  war  as 
ended  when  the  last  Confederate  soldier  had  surrendered  his 
arms.  As  his  political  opponents  were  his  personal  friends  in 
private  life,  so  the  men  whom  he  faced  on  the  field  of  battle 
he  regarded  as  his  fellow-citizens  and  brothers  after  the  resto- 
ration of  peace. 

Firm  in  his  friendships,  generous  to  his  opponents,  loyal  to 
his  party,  faithful  to  the  Union,  diligent  in  the  discharge  of 
his  public  duties,  his  long  career  in  the  service  of  his  country 
is  fittingly  crowned  by  the  unanimity  with  which  his  memory 
is  honored  this  afternoon  by  the  Representatives  of  the  Nation. 


ADDRESS  OF  MR.  CURTIS,  OF  NEW  YORK. 

Mr.  SPEAKER:  In  rising  to  support  the  resolutions  of  my 
friend  from  the  Tenth  district  of  New  York  [Mr.  Cockran],  in 
which  he  pays  a  deserved  tribute  to  his  predecessor  in  this 
House,  Gen.  SPINOLA,  I  shall  confine  myself  to  a  general  state- 
ment of  his  public  services,  making  particular  mention  of  two 
or  three  notable  incidents  in  his  career  while  in  the  civil  service 
of  his  State  and  as  an  officer  in  the  army  battling  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  Federal  Union.  To  others  I  leave  the  conge- 


6  Address  of  Mr.  Curtis,  of  New  York,  on  the 

nial  duty  of  commenting  on  the  qualities  he  displayed  and  the 
services  he  performed  while  a  member  of  this  House. 

FRANCIS  B.  SPINOLA  was  born  in  the  county  of  Suffolk, 
State  of  New  York,  on  the  19th  day  of  March,  1821.  His 
ancestry  was  of  different  races.  His  father  was  an  Italian, 
and  I  have  been  told  that  he  could  have  rightfully  been  a 
member  of  the  societies  of  St.  Patrick,  St.  Andrew,  St.  George, 
and  St.  Nicholas.  Whether  or  not  this  be  true,  his  mother 
was  the  daughter  of  an  officer  who  served  through  the  revo- 
lutionary war,  and  she  gave  to  her  son  the  wit,  the  sturdiness, 
the  persistency,  the  loyalty,  and  the  versatility  of  tempera- 
ment characteristic  of  all  these  races.  He  received  an  academic 
education  and  entered  upon  business  pursuits  before  attaining 
his  majority.  At  22  years  of  age  he  was  elected  an  alderman 
and  served  five  years  in  the  common  council  of  the  city  of 
Brooklyn;  later  he  was  elected  to  the  board  of  supervisors  of 
King's  County,  serving  three  years. 

In  1853  he  was  elected  to  the  New  York  assembly,  continu- 
ing four  terms,  serving  on  important  committees.  In  1857  he 
was  elected  to  the  State  senate;  was  reflected  and  served  four 
years.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Democratic  national  conven- 
tion which  met  in  Charleston,  S.  C.,  and  later  in  Baltimore, 
Md.,  in  1860.  He  was  an  earnest  supporter  of  Douglas  and 
contributed  much  by  his  persistent  efforts  and  skillful  man- 
agement in  securing  his  nomination  to  the  Presidency.  Gen. 
SPINOLA  was  the  last  survivor  of  the  New  York  delegation  to 
that  convention.  He  joined,  with  many  other  members  of  his 
party  in  New  York,  irrespective  of  differences  which  had 
existed  among  them  in  the  convention,  in  urging  a  union  ticket 
to  consist  of  representatives  of  each  of  the  three  candidates 
opposed  to  Lincoln. 

The  success  of  the  Eepublican  candidate  was  grievously 
disappointing  to  him,  and  he  indicated  in  his  positive  and 


Life  and  Character  of  Francis  B.  Spinola.  7 

uncompromising  way  liis  thorough  dissatisfaction.  He  neg- 
lected no  opportunity  to  declare  his  hostility  to  the  incoming 
administration  and  his  unyielding  opposition  to  any  and  all 
political  measures  it  might  propose. 

When  the  flag  was  struck  at  Suinter  and  the  President 
issued  his  proclamation  of  April  15,  1861,  calling  for  75,000 
men  to  uphold  the  Constitution,  maintain  the  laws,  and 
preserve  the  Federal  Union,  the  legislature  of  New  York  was 
about  completing  its  labors  for  final  adjournment.  Governor 
Morgan  sent  a  message  to  the  legislature  advising  the  imme- 
diate enactment  of  measures  to  enable  the  State  of  New 
York  to.  fill  her  quota  under  this  call. 

The  bill  for  enrolling  volunteers  was  introduced  into  the 
assembly,  briefly  discussed,  and  passed  by  an  overwhelming 
majority  the  same  afternoon.  Great  interest  was  felt  in  the 
action  of  the  senate,  which  met  in  evening  session,  to  consider 
the  military  bill.  Soon  after  the  bill  had  been  reported  from 
the  committee  having  it  in  charge  Senator  FRANCIS  B.  SPINOLA 
took  the  floor;  expectation  ran  high.  It  was  not  only  what 
should  be  the  response  of  New  York  to  the  President's  requi- 
sition for  more  than  one-sixth  of  the  men  called  for,  but  the 
character  of  that  response  as  indicated  by  this  first  act  of  the 
legislature,  which  would  express  the  sentiment  of  the  people 
of  the  Empire  State  respecting  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the 
war  for  the  Union. 

Senator  SPINOLA  was  a  strong  man,  a  leader  and  organizer 
in  his  party,  known  to  be  stubbornly  opposed  to  the  Federal 
Administration.  His  refusal  to  support  this  measure  would 
indicate  opposition  to  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war  or  a 
divided  sentiment  among  the  masses  of  the  great  cities,  whose 
voices  at  that  time  had  not  been  heard.  He  could  speak  for 
them  perhaps  better  than  any  man  who  occupied  a  seat  on  that 
floor.  He  commenced  by  denouncing  the  Eepublicau  party  for 


8  Address  of  Mr.  Curtis,  of  New  York,  on  the 

its  errors,  and  to  praise  his  own  for  its  prudence,  wisdom,  and 
devotion  to  the  welfare  of  the  country,  and  said : 

War  in  any  shape  is  a  calamity,  but  more  so  when  it  assumes  the  shape  of 
arraying  brother  against  brother;  but  this  is  not  the  time  for  bandying 
•words.  War  is  upon  us.  The  American  flag  for  the  first  time  has  been  torn 
down,  and  it  remains  for  us  to  say  whether  it  shall  be  allowed  to  trail  or 
again  wave  in  triumph.  The  Republicans  by  failing  to  agree  upon  a  fair 
compromise,  have  brought  this  war  upon  us ;  but  now  that  it  is  here,  the 
Democrats  are  ready  to  fight  the  battles  and  fight  as  long  as  necessary.  I 
believe  that  unless  the  request  that  has  come  from  Washington  is  promptly 
responded  to  the  President  and  his  Cabinet  will  not  occupy  their  positions 
in  Washington  on  the  Fourth  of  July.  From  this  time  onward  you  will  not 
hear  me  say  anything  about  party,  but  hereafter  it  will  be  my  country. 

And  taking  the  Stars  and  Stripes  from  his  desk,  waved  it  in 
the  senate  chamber,  declaring: 

This  is  my  flag,  which  I  will  follow  and  defend. 

The  merchants,  the  bankers,  the  professional  men  in  the  great 
cities,  and  the  masses  of  the  people  throughout  the  State  had 
come  forward  and  declared  their  determination  to  support  the 
administration  in  its  efforts  to  preserve  the  Federal  Union. 
These  words  of  Senator  SPINOLA,  more  than  the  utterances  of 
any  other  man  in  the  senate,  gave  assurance  that  the  masses 
in  the  great  cities  were  devoted  to  the  Union  and  ready  to 
enlist  for  its  defense.  With  a  wisdom  and  foresight  possessed 
by  few  he  urged  the  raising  of  large  levies  and  the  making 
of  prompt,  vigorous  preparations  for  active  hostilities.  The 
legislature  adjourned  the  following  day,  and  he  returned  to 
Brooklyn  and  gave  his  influence  and  exertions  to  the  raising 
of  troops  for  the  Union  Army. 

Later  he  was  appointed  a  brigadier- general  of  volunteers  by 
the  President "  for  meritorious  conduct  in  recruiting  and  organ- 
izing a  brigade  of  four  regiments  and  accompanying  them  to 
the  field,"  an  appointment  unlike  any  other  made  during  the 
war.  In  1861  it  was  not  uncommon  for  men  to  be  appointed 
to  high  positions  in  the  Army  because  of  political  consid- 


Life  and  Character  of  Francis  B.  Spinola.  9 

eration  or  sectional  interests.    The  effect  of  many  of  these 
appointments  on  the  success  of  military  operations  was  scarcely 
less  disastrous  tha»  the  effort  would  be  futile  of  teaching 
mathematics  by  introducing  geometry  as  the  first  text-book 
instead  of  numbers  and  the  four  ground  rules  of  arithmetic. 

Yet,  in  the  case  of  Gen.  SPINOLA,  he  entered  upon  the  duties 
of  a  position,  to  the  proper  and  efficient  discharge  of  which 
preliminary  training  and  experience  had  been  regarded  as 
absolutely  necessary  to  success,  with  such  natural  aptitude 
for  acquiring  the  science  and  skill  of  military  art,  that  he  was 
able  to  draw  from  his  associates  and  superiors  such  high  com- 
mendation as  the  following  extracts  from  the  official  reports 
of  the  operations  of  the  Third  Army  Corps  on  the  23d  of  July, 
1863,  will  show.  Gen.  Henry  Prince,  commanding  the  Second 
Division  of  the  Third  Army  Corps,  reports : 

At  this  juncture  I  received  permission  from  corps  headquarters  to  employ 
my  division  where  I  saw  best.  I  then  directed  Brig.  Gen.  SPINOLA  to 
march  his  brigade  (The  Excelsior)  by  the  flank  along  the  hollow,  then  in 
our  view,  winding  to  the  front  and  center  of  the  high  ridge  on  which  we 
stood,  keeping  on  the  lowest  ground  within  it,  and,  on  debouching  from 
it  by  the  left  flank,  to  advance  in  line  by  his  proper  front  up  the  hill  he 
would  find  himself  at  the  base  of,  and  take  it.  This  hill  was  the  key  of 
the  ground  occupied  by  the  enemy's  skirmishers. 

The  line  of  the  Second  Brigade  (The  Excelsior)  made  its  appearance  at 
the  base  of  the  hill  between  5  and  6  p.  m.,  and  began  to  ascend  before  its 
right  was  clear  of  the  hollow  or  ravine,  which  did  not  give  it  so  fair  a 
start  as  might  otherwise  have  been ;  but  nothing  can  transcend  the  gal- 
lantry with  which  it  rose  to  the  crest  and  drove  the  enemy  from  it.  In  the 
moment  of  this  success  a  second  crest  of  the  same  hill,  200  yards  beyond 
the  first  and  confounded  with  it  until  this  time,  came  into  view,  behind 
which  the  enemy  rose  from  his  prone  posture  as  thick  as  men  can  stand, 
opening  a  furious  fire  of  musketry.  At  the  same  time  a  six-gun  battery, 
still  further  beyond,  opened  with  shell. 

The  severest  part  of  the  charge  of  the  Excelsior  Brigade  was  before  it 
after  taking  the  first  crest,  but  without  hesitation,  with  the  determination 
of  the  Union  soldier,  and  the  fury  of  the  hurricane,  it  took  the  second 
crest  and  exposed  the  enemy  (scampering  away  from  it)  to  fire  while 
descending  the  one  side  of  a  deep,  cleared  hollow  and  climbing  up  the 
other. 

The  simple  narrative  of  this  infantry  exploit,  unaided  by  any  other  arm 


10  Address  of  Mr.  Curtis,  of  New  York,  on  the 

of  the  service,  is  the  most  just  commendation  that  can  be  made  of  those 
who  performed  it.  It  is  impossible  to  mention  their  names.  Brig.  Gen. 
F.  B.  SPINOLA,  United  States  Volunteers,  while  leading  his  brigade 
towards  the  second  of  the  crests  taken  by  it,  fell,  wounded  in  two  places, 
severely,  but  not  seriously. 

Gen.  J.  H.  Hobart  Ward,  commanding  First  Division,  Third 
Army  Corps,  reports: 

Gen.  SPINOLA,  commanding  Second  Brigade,  Second  Division,  formed  his 
troops  in  a  ravine  in  front  of  the  enemy's  position,  and  charging  them  in 
magnificent  style,  drove  them  from  the  field  in  confusion,  the  major-general, 
commanding  the  corps,  witnessing  the  whole  operation.  In  this  charge 
Gen.  SPINOLA  was  twice  wounded. 

Maj.  Gen.  William  H.  French,  commanding  the  Third  Army 
Corps,  reports: 

The  Excelsior  Brigade  was  selected  to  carry  out  my  orders,  and  moved 
rapidly  to  execute  them.  Descending  the  precipitous  slopes  of  Wapping 
Heights,  they  were  directed  upon  the  valley  which  separated  the  series  of 
knolls  in  our  front,  behind  the  principal  of  which  the  enemy,  perceiving 
the  object  of  the  movement,  concentrated.  The  brigade  was  at  once 
deployed  at  the  base  of  the  knoll,  and  advanced  upon  the  enemy.  Halt- 
ing for  a  moment  upon  the  crest  of  the  hill,  the  line  rushed  upon  the  enemy 
with  the  bayonet,  giving  cheer  after  cheer  and  driving  him  back  in  con- 
fusion out  of  the  gap.  Nothing  could  be  more  brilliant  than  the  conduct 
of  the  officers  and  men  in  this  affair,  evincing  fighting  qualities  of  the 
highest  order.  Brig.  Gen.  SPINOLA, who  led  and  commanded  the  brigade, 
was  twice  wounded. 

This  man  of  civil  pursuits,  without  military  education  or 
experience  in  the  field,  at  42  years  of  age,  entered  upon 
the  duties  pertaining  to  high  military  rank,  and  so  acquitted 
himself  in  active  hostilities  as  to  win  the  commendation  of 
educated  and  experienced  soldiers,  thereby  furnishing  strong 
evidence  that  he  had  that  genius  for  command  which  is  not 
the  province  of  schools  to  create,  nor  experience  to  establish, 
when  the  natural  elements  are  wholly  wanting.  Gen.  SPINOLA 
through  life  was  in  touch  with  all  the  elements  of  our  demo- 
cratic society.  At  all  times  a  partisan  in  discussing  questions 
of  public  concern,  he,  in  the  hour  of  supreme  national  peril, 
rose  to  the  highest  plane  of  patriotism  and  performed  the 


Life  and  Character  of  Francis  B.  Spinola.  11 

duties  allotted  to  him  with  unselfish  devotion.  When  the 
calm  succeeded  the  storm  he  again  took  his  place  at  the  head 
of  his  partisan  column  and  contended  for  the  adoption  of  his 
political  principles  in  the  conduct  of  public  affairs. 

Self-educated,  self-established  in  business  pursuits,  he  entered 
the  profession  of  the  law,  not  with  a  view  of  practicing  at  the 
bar,  but  as  the  means  of  attaining  greater  efficiency  in  the 
performance  of  duties  pertaining  to  public  life.  He  filled  the 
positions  of  alderman,  supervisor,  assemblyman,  State  senator, 
harbor-master,  brigadier-general  of  volunteers,  twice  again  in 
the  New  York  assembly,  and  three  times  elected  to  Congress, 
covering  most  of  the  time  from  his  majority  to  the  day  of  his 
death.  All  but  two  of  these — brigadier- general  of  volunteers 
and  harbor-master — he  attained  by  the  suffrages  of  his  neigh- 
bors, a  proof  of  his  popularity  and  ability.  He  had  a  striking 
individuality,  which  could  be  neither  imitated  nor  disguised. 
He  never  lagged  in  the  support  of  friends  or  principles,  nor 
wearied  in  his  contests  with  those  from  whom  he  differed. 


ADDRESS  OF  MR.  CUMMINGS,  OF  NEW  YORK. 

Mr.  SPEAKER:  The  old  warrior  was  just  threescore  and  ten. 
After  living  the  time  allotted  to  man  he  gave  up  the  ghost. 
His  stubborn  spirit  at  last  yielded  to  the  inevitable.  He  died 
as  he  had  lived,  front  to  the  foe.  He  faced  death  at  the  final 
hour  as  he  had  faced  it  on  the  field  of  battle — undaunted  and 
without  fear.  His  career  had  been  long  and  conspicuous.  He 
was  familiar  with  the  highways  and  boulevards  of  life.  Its 
byways  were  not  unknown  to  him,  and  he  had  trodden  its  most 
sinuous  paths.  Yet  he  had  carried  high  his  crest.  His  facul- 
ties were  alert  and  resolute. 

Asking  no  favors,  he  was  always  in  battle  array.    Ambus- 


12       Address  of  Mr.  Cummings,  of  New  York,  on  the 

cades  could  not  unnerve  him.  Indeed,  surprise  was  almost 
unknown  to  him.  The  inevitable  alone  could  overpower  him. 
He  was  ever  on  the  attack.  His  defense  was  aggression.  He 
invariably  met  an  assault  with  an  assault. 

There  was  very  little  of  the  cavalier  about  him.  He  was  a 
Roundhead  Moss-trooper,  ever  on  the  foray.  A  rough  rider, 
he  was  unyielding  in  discussion  and  merciless  in  retort.  Ada- 
mantine in  spirit,  he  was  soldered  into  his  opinions.  It  required 
more  than  logic  to  loosen  him.  He  could  be  melted  only  by 
working  the  blowpipe  of  human  sympathy.  For,  although  posi- 
tive in  character  and  action,  he  was  not  misanthropic.  There 
was  a  quaint  phosphoric  light  in  his  intellectuality.  It  had 
the  play  if  not  the  scope  of  an  aurora.  It  enlivened  his  social 
relations  and  endeared  him  to  his  friends. 

New  acquaintances  were  warmed  by  the  glow  of  his  genial- 
ity. There  was  fire  in  his  eyes,  life  in  his  gestures,  and 
earnestness  in  his  speech.  His  face  indexed  his  character. 
Determination  had  done  its  work  upon  his  features.  It  was 
the  face  of  a  warrior;  yet  the  expression  was  tempered  with 
good  humor.  The  floor  of  the  House  seemed  native  to  him. 
Long  experience  elsewhere  had  made  him  familiar  with  the 
paths  of  legislation.  No  trapper  ever  paced  a  mountain  trail 
more  confidently.  Never  did  he  falter  for  a  word.  A  quick 
thinker  when  on  his  feet,  his  tongue  kept  pace  with  his  brain. 

Woe  to  those  who  interrupted  him,  for  he  handled  the 
rapier  and  the  claymore  with  equal  facility.  Once,  and  only 
once,  standing  in  the  shadow  of  the  mace  of  the  sergeant-at- 
arms,  did  he  yield  to  the  overbearing  disposition  of  the 
Speaker.  It  was  in  the  last  hours  of  the  Fifty-first  Congress. 
Furious  at  his  headlong  assault,  the  Speaker  mounted  the 
steps,  brushed  aside  the  temporary  occupant  of  the  chair, 
brought  down  the  gavel,  and  peremptorily  ordered  his  ruth- 
less assailant  to  take  his  seat.  Sullenly  and  with  a  look  of 


Life  and  Character  of  Francis  B.  Spinola.  13 

defiance  lie  obeyed.  The  assault  had  been  made  because  the 
old  warrior  had  been  refused  recognition  to  call  up  a  bill  pro- 
viding for  the  erection  of  a  monument  over  the  bones  of  the 
martyrs  of  the  British  prison  ships.  There  was  Eevolutiouary 
blood  in  the  old  man's  veins.  In  early  life  he  had  seen  the 
wrecked  timbers  of  one  of  these  floating  hells,  and  had  heard 
details  of  the  cruelties  from  the  lips  of  the  soldiers  of  the 
Revolution. 

Patriotic  to  the  core,  Gen.  SPINOLA  was  a  true  Democrat.  He 
stood  upon  the  Constitution,  and  upheld  the  rights  of  the 
States.  An  ardent  advocate  of  home  rule,  he  was  the  impla- 
cable foe  of  centralization.  He  was  devoted  to  the  interests  of 
the  many  rather  than  to  the  interest  of  the  few,  but  he  never 
allowed  the  interests  of  the  many  to  trespass  upon  the  rights 
of  the  few.  He  championed  the  rights  of  labor,  and  resisted 
the  encroachments  of  monopolies.  Never  robbing  others  of 
their  rights,  he  was  jealous  of  his  own  privileges  and  preroga- 
tives. He  was  of  the  people  and  for  the  people.  He  asked 
no  more  for  his  constituents  than  he  was  willing  to  give  to 
others.  He  was  as  broad  as  his  country.  While  deprecating 
extravagance  in  public  expenditures,  he  advocated  liberal 
appropriations  for  the  development  of  its  resources  and  for 
internal  improvements.  He  did  not  believe  in  tying  the 
arteries  of  trade  with  a  protective  tariff.  He  believed  that 
commerce  was  the  life  of  all  nations,  and  that  it  took  charge 
of  the  interests,  the  movements,  and  the  intercourse  of  all 
mankind.  Its  restriction  drained  the  lifeblood  of  the  great 
city  which  he  in  part  represented.  It  impoverished  the 
people  and  enriched  the  trusts. 

Sir,  no  more  thorough  political  partisan  than  my  late 
colleague  ever  breathed.  He  loved  his  party  as  he  loved  his 
country,  and  he  loved  his  country  as  he  loved  his  life.  In  his 
party  he  believed  he  saw  the  only  party  of  the  people.  He 


14       Address  of  Mr.  dimming  s,  of  New  York,  on  the 

loved  its  leaders  as  he  loved  his  tried  friends.  Its  enemies 
were  his  enemies.  Entire  devotion  to  the  party  organization 
was  his  rule  of  political  life.  The  Mugwump  he  regarded  as 
an  unclean  bird — a  harpy  that  reveled  in  the  feast  uninvited, 
and  defiled  every  dish  that  it  touched. 

To  act  in  public  affairs  seemed  to  be  a  passion  with  him. 
For  more  "than  a  quarter  of  a  century  he  represented  either 
New  York  or  Brooklyn  in  legislative  assemblies. 

Indeed  he  maybe  said  to  have  belonged  to  public  life  for 
a  much  longer  period,  for  he  was  an  active  worker  in  political 
organizations  which  had  an  essential  influence  upon  public 
affairs  since  his  boyhood.  He  had  neared  his  manhood  when 
Gen.  Jackson  went  out  of  office.  When  the  Albany  Eegency 
was  at  its  zenith  his  was  a  prominent  figure  in  the  primary 
elections.  The  regency  was  a  voluntary  association  of  dis- 
tinguished Democrats  whose  determination  in  party  affairs 
was  generally  accepted  without  question.  It  embraced  such 
names  as  William  L.  Marcy,  Martin  Van  Bureii,  Azariah  C. 
Flagg,  and  Edwin  Crosswell.  It  was  considered  by  far  the 
most  influential  political  body  in  the  United  States.  It  never 
assumed  to  dictate,  nor  did  it  claim  the  slightest  political 
authority.  Its  strength  lay  in  the  sagacity  of  its  suggestions. 

Young  SPINOLA,  although  at  first  a  Whig,  was  undoubtedly 
conversant  with  its  power  and  influence.  It  left  its  impress 
upon  his  political  career.  In  after  days  his  contests  were 
waged  in  strict  accordance  with  its  desires.  When  it  waned 
and  Tammany  came  to  the  front,  he  joined  that  organization. 
He  was  conspicuous  in  its  mass  meetings  and  at  its  councils. 
His  heart  was  enwrapped  in  Tammany.  Never  from  the  day 
he  entered  it  to  the  day  of  his  death,  did  he  swerve  from  his 
fealty.  It  is  easy  from  this  to  work  out  the  sum  of  his  political 
faith  and  action.  It  is  comprised  in  the  words  Democracy  and 
discipline.  No  other  crown  did  he  ask;  no  other  exaltation 
did  he  desire. 


Life  and  Character  of  Francis  B.  Spinola.  15 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  knew  FRANCIS  B.  SPINOLA  for  thirty  years. 
He  once  told  me  that  he  was  of  Italian  lineage.  Italy  is  a  land 
that  has  been  tempest-tossed  by  war  and  passion  even  as  its 
great -founder  is  said  to  have  been  tossed  by  land  and  sea.  Since 
the  fifth  century  its  history  has  been  divided  into  eight  periods. 
Each  has  been  one  of  tumult.  It  is  the  land  of  the  pomegran- 
ate and  the  vine,  of  beautiful  skies,  of  love,  of  poetry,  of 
painting  and  of  sculpture.  It  was  there  that  the  lights  of 
ancient  literature  went  out,  and  there  that  .the  renaissance 
began  before  the  last  rays  had  faded  from  the  horizon.  It  was 
an  Italian  who  gave  the  Old  World  a  new  world  5  It  was  an 
Italian  who  brought  countless  worlds  within  our  view. 

I  know  not  from  what  particular  family  our  friend  sprang, 
but  there  were  traces  of  Kienzi,  Masaniello,  Savonarola,  and 
of  the  Montagues  and  Capulets  in  his  composition.  Even 
Machiavelli  had  left  his  mark.  One  characteristic,  however, 
was  preeminent.  The  Italian  loves  Italy  as  the  land  of  his 
birth.  SPINOLA  loved  America  with  an  Italian  devotion.  Her 
flag  was  as  precious  to  him  as  the  fleur  de  Us  to  a  Bourbon  or 
the  cloak  of  the  prophet  to  a  Mohammedan.  He  drank  from  a 
perennial  spring  of  patriotism.  It  was  the  spirit  of  his  fathers 
in  the  Revolution. 

Mr.  Speaker,  thrice  since  the  dawn  of  the  new  year  have 
I  addressed  the  House  on  occasions  of  this  kind.  Circum- 
stances have  required  it.  It  is  by  no  means  a  duty  to  be 
coveted.  Yet  no  one  should  shrink  from  it.  It  does  seem  to 
me  that  when  a  member  is  dropped  from  the  roll  of  the  living, 
something  definite  should  be  said  to  show  what  manner  of  man 
he  was.  With  this  object  in  view,  I  have  paid  this  tribute  to 
my  dead  friend. 

As  a  companion  he  was  sociable  and  entertaining.  As  a 
soldier  he  was  vigilant,  intrepid,  and  amenable  to  discipline. 
As  a  legislator  he  was  watchful,  industrious,  and  energetic. 


16          Address  of  Mr.  Wheeler,  of  Alabama,  on  the 

As  a  man  he  was  far  above  the  average.  His  friendships  were 
warm,  and  his  enmities  bitter.  His  domestic  relations  were 
extremely  pleasant.  He  not  only  gloried  in  being  a  Democrat, 
but  in  being  a  Tammany  Democrat.  At  all  times  and  under 
all  circumstances  he  was  its  champion,  armed  to  defend  it. 
He  believed  the  organization  necessary  to  the  success  of  his 
party,  and  the  success  of  his  party  essential  to  the  public 
welfare. 

What  others  and  what  I  have  said,  in  my  opinion  make  up 
the  man  as  he  lived,  and  it  is  by  no  means  a  moderate  distinc- 
tion. 


ADDRESS  OF  MR.  WHEELER,  OF  ALABAMA. 

Mr.  SPEAKER  :  Our  revered  and  honored  brother  who  has 
passed  away  was  one  of  the  members  of  this  body  whose  lives 
extended  back  toward  the  beginning  of  the  history  of  our 
country  as  one  of  the  nations  of  the  earth.  Though  not  an  old 
man,  he  was  one  of  the  few  who  touched  elbows  with  the 
heroes  of  the  Bevolution;  and  his  associations  during  his  long 
and  eventful  life  were  with  the  men  who  made  New  York  the 
great  metropolis  of  the  world.  In  everything  pertaining  to 
that  city  Gen.  SPINOLA  took  a  most  commendable  pride.  AVe 
all  remember  his  eloquent  speech  in  this  House  when  he 
recounted  the  boyish  awe  and  admiration  with  which  he 
regarded  the  brave  men  who  fought  from  Lexington  and 
Concord,  in  1775,  to  the  final  victory  at  Yorktown  in  1781 — 
men  to  whose  patriotism  and  courage  we  owe  the  Government 
under  which  we  live. 

Although  very  young  at  the  time,  he  was  one  of  the  proces- 
sion that  marched  with  uncovered  heads,  bearing  upon  their 
shoulders  the  remains  of  the  victims  of  the  British  prison  ships 
from  their  temporary  resting-place  to  their  final  entombment 


Life  and  Character  of  Francis  B.  Spinola.  17 

at  Fort  Greene,  in  Brooklyn.  These  ceremonies  most  vividly 
revived  the  historical  associations  connected  with  the  occasion 
when  the  representatives  of  the  thirteen  States  met  in  New 
York  and  conveyed  these  remains  from  the  graves  on  the  coast 
where  they  had  been  hastily  buried  by  the  British. 

As  the  gentleman  who  has  just  taken  his  seat  spoke  of  the 
interest  that  Gen.  SPINOLA  took  in  these  patriots,  it  would  not 
be  improper  for  me  to  recall  some  of  the  facts  concerning  these 
martyred  prisoners  of  Wallabout  Bay.  I  read,  Mr.  Speaker, 
from  a  work  published  by  the  Tammany  Society  in  1808.  This 
is  a  precious  volume,  only  115  copies  having  been  published. 
In  describing  the  prison  ships,  it  says : 

Suffice  it  to  state  merely  that  during  the  Revolution  the  British  had 
stationed  at  the  Wallabout,  Long  Island,  nearly  opposite  the  city  of  New 
York,  a  number  of  prison  ships,  on  board  of  which  it  was  the  fate  of  those 
Americans  who  had  become  prisoners  of  war  to  be  placed.  The  principal 
.  of  these  was  the  Jersey,  the  remains  of  whose  hulk  are  still  to  be  seen  on 
the  Long  Island  shore — 

And  that  was  the  ship  the  gentleman  from  New  York  men- 
tioned had  been  seen  by  Gen.  SPINOLA — 

the  John,  the  Scorpion,  the  Strombolo,  and  the  Hunter.  From  these  float- 
ing dungeons,  the  hearts  of  whose  keepers  must  indeed  have  delighted  in 
the  "  luxury  of  woe,"  the  bodies  of  our  countrymen,  having  gone  through 
the  preparatory  stages  of  suffering  and  death,  were  taken  on  shore  at  the 
Wallabout  and  thrown  scarcely  beneath  the  surface. 

It  is  impossible  to  learn  with  accuracy  from  any  records  the 
number  of  men  whose  lives  were  destroyed  by  the  brutal  and 
inhuman  treatment  which  was  inflicted  upon  the  prisoners  in 
these  vessels.  The  report  which  I  have  before  me  says : 

It  is  ascertained,  however,  with  as  much  precision  as  the  nature  of  the 
case  will  admit,  that  upwards  of  eleven  thousand  died  on  board  the  Jersey 
alone. 

With  the  70,000,000  people  we  have  in  the  United  States 
to-day,  with  the  stupendous  war  of  1861-'65  fresh  in  our  minds, 
during  which  the  Federal  Government  placed  2,859,132  men 
under  arms  within  the  short  period  of  four  years,  we  are  apt 

H.  Mis.  102— — \\ 


18          Address  of  Mr.  Wheeler,  of  Alabama,  on  the 

not  to  appreciate  the  full  meaning  of  the  death,  on  one  ship 
alone,  of  11,000  prisoners,  taken  from  the  small  army  which 
was  contending  for  our  liberties.  The  report  of  the  Secretary 
of  War,  May  10,  1790,  shows  that  the  number  of  troops, 
including  Continental  soldiers  and  the  militia,  enlisted  during 
the  war  of  the  Revolution  averaged  but  43,000 — at  some 
periods  a  few  more  and  at  other  periods  less. 

From  other  sources  I  find  that  the  number  actually  killed  in 
battle  during  the  Eevolution  was  but  2,200.  We  therefore  see 
that  the  number  of  men,  many  of  whom  were  actually  mur-  . 
dered  on  the  Jersey,  was  one-fourth  the  strength  of  the  army, 
and  exceeded  by  fivefold  the  number  killed  in  action  in  all  the 
battles  of  the  war.  The  heroic  spirit  of  our  departed  friend 
was  not  the  first  to  appreciate  the  nobility  of  these  martyrs, 
but  that  honor  belongs  to  the  ancient  and  honorable  society  of 
which  he  was  a  prominent  member.  Nearly  ninety  years  ago  . 
the  Tammany  Society  prepared  a  memorial  to  Congress,  which 
was  presented  to  that  body  on  February  10,  1803,  by  the  very 
distinguished  Samuel  L.  Mitchell,  then  a  Eepresentative  and 
afterwards  a  Senator  from  the  State  of  New  York. 

After  stating  that  John  Jackson,  esq.,  had  tendered  an  eli- 
gible piece  of  land  as  a  place  of  solemn  depository  for  these 
victims,  the  memorial  says : 

If  the  ancient  Grecian  republics — if  Athens,  the  noblest  of  them  all — 
raised  columns,  temples,  and.  pyramids  to  commemorate  those  who  fell  in 
the  fields  of  Marathon  and  Platere  in  defense  of  their  country,  can  America 
be  backward,  aucl  yet  just,  in  paying  her  tribute  of  respect  to  the  mem- 
ories of  citizens  who,  equally  patriotic  and  meritorious,  perish  less 
splendidly  in  the  presence  of  unheeded  want  and  cruel  pestilence. 

The  memorial  to  Congress,  which  is  too  long  for  me  to  read 
in  its  entirety,  then  proceeds : 

Without  trespassing  further  on  the  time  of  your  honorable  House,  we 
would  briefly  sxiggest  that  after  preparing  a  decent  tomb,  where  the  prec- 
ious relics  of  these  victims  for  the  nation  may  rest  undisturbed  and  sacred 
until  the  Great  Spirit  has  decreed  the  resuscitation  of  the  dead  aud  the 


Life  and  Character  of  Francis  B.  Spinola.  19 

final  consummation  of  all  things,  we  would  wish  to  see  erected  some  monu- 
ment that  may  endure  the  rage  of  time ;  neither  lofty,  nor  sumptuous,  nor 
magnificent,  but  which  may,  nevertheless,  inform  future  ages,  "  Here  lies 
the  remains  of  an  immense  multitude  of  men  who,  preferring  death  to  the 
sacrifice  of  their  honor  and  the  fidelity  they  owed  to  their  country,  perished 
in  the  prison  ships  at  New  York." 

It  appears  that  Congress  did  vnot  make  an  appropriation, 
and  as  far  as  I  can  learn  there  was  no  bill  introduced,  and  no 
action  at  that  time  taken  further  than  the  presentation  of  the 
memorial,  an  extract  from  which  I  have  read.  In  the  mean 
time,  however,  John  Jackson  executed  a  deed  conveying  the 
land  to  the  Tammany  Society;  and  in  1808  Mr.  Jackson,  as 
chairman,  and  Benjamin  Eomaine,  the  grand  sachem  of  the 
Tammany  Society,  perfected  arrangements  for  removing  the 
bodies  from  the  shore  to  the  place  selected,  which,  as  the 
account  says,  Mr.  Jackson  had  adorned  by  "planting  trees  of 
of  an  appropriate  description." 

When  the  preparations  were  completed  there  was  witnessed 
one  of  the  greatest  exhibitions  of  patriotic  feeling  ever  exhib- 
ited in  this  country.  On  page  81,  in  giving  an  account  of  the 
proceedings  on  that  occasion,  we  find  these  words : 

The  detachment  of  artillery  filed  off  and  took  post  on  a  hill  adjacent  to 
the  place  of  interment.  The  colors  being  planted  and  the  company  of 
marines  having  taken  their  station,  Benjamin  Romaine,  grand  sachem  of 
the  Tammany  Society,  accompanied  by  the  Master  Builders  and  the  Tam- 
many committee,  performed  the  ceremonies  of  laying  the  corner  stone  of 
the  vault.  The  eye  of  every  spectator  was  anxiously  turned  upon  the 
scene.  The  most  profound  silence  prevailed.  It  was  a  moment;  big  with 
patriotic  and  exalted  and  enthusiastic  feeling.  It  seemed  that  the  recol- 
lections and  sensibilities  of  America  were  concentrated,  and  that  the  debt 
of  gratitude  to  the  memory  of  11,000  of  our  brave  but  unfortunate 
defenders,  which  it  belonged  to  the  nation  to  discharge,  was  about  to  be 
canceled. 

The  following  is  the  inscription  upon  the  stone : 

In  the  name  of  the  spirits  of  the  Departed  Free.  Sacred  to  the  memory 
of  that  portion  of  American  seamen,  soldiers,  and  citizens  who  perished  on 
board  the  Prison  Ships  of  the  British  at  the  Wallabout  during  the  Revolu- 
tion. 


20          Address  of  Mr.  Wheeler,  of  Alabama,  on  the 
There  was  also  engraved  on  the  corner  stone  these  words : 

This  is  the  corner  stone  of  the  vault  erected  by  the  Tammany  Society  or 
Columbian  Order,  which  contains  their  remains.  The  ground  for  which 
was  bestowed  by  John  Jackson,  Nassau  Island,  season  of  blossoms.  Year 
of  the  discovery  the  316th,  of  the  institution  the  19th,  and  of  American 
independence  the  32d,  April  6,  1808. 

Mr.  Joseph  D.  Fay,  a  member  of  the  Tammany  Society,  and 
a  distinguished  lawyer  of  the  city  of  New  York,  was  appointed 
the  orator  of  the  day. 

In  describing  the  suffering  of  these  men,  he  says: 

But  the  sufferings  of  those  unfortunate  Americans  whom  the  dreadful 
chances  of  war  had  destined  for  the  prison  ships  were  far  greater  than  any 
which  have  been  told.  In  that  deadly  season  of  the  year  when  the  dog 
star  rages  with  relentless  fury,  when  a  pure  air  is  specially  essential  to 
life,  and  even  the  bosom  of  indolent  ease  pants  to  catch  it  from  the  "  tur- 
ret and  the  hill,"  the  British  locked  their  prisoners,  after  long  marches, 
in  the  dungeons  of  a  ship  infected  with  contagion  and  reeking  with 
the  tilth  of  crowded  captives,  dead  and  dying.  In  vain  did  the  terrified 
prisoner  remonstrated  and  beg  for  pity ;  he  was  hurled  alive  without  mercy 
into  this  nauseous  grave,  and  no  reasoning,  no  praying  could  obtain  from 
his  stern  tyrants  the  smallest  alleviation  of  his  fate.  Yet  there  was  one 
condition  upon  which  he  might  be  spared  the  tortures  of  this  slow  but 
certain  death,  and  that  was  enlistment  in  the  service  of  the  enemy. 

It  was  this  hallowed  resting-place  of  our  martyrs  which 
was  visited  by  our  friend  in  his  boyish  days.  It  was  here  he 
imbibed  those  patriotic  inspirations  which  became  part  of  his 
life  and  so  remained  until  his  death. 

And  I  read  these,  Mr.  Speaker,  because  I  remember  the 
night  when  Gen.  SPINOLA  made  a  speech  in  this  Hall  asking 
that  an  appropriation  should  be  made  to  commemorate  these 
martyrs  by  a  suitable  monument.  He  described  the  cruelty 
of  the  British  officer  Fraser,  in  South  Carolina,  to  his  pris- 
oners, and  read  a  description  of  their  sufferings  with  a  fervor 
which  could  only  have  come  from  that  great-hearted  and  chiv- 
alrous man. 

He  read  the  insulting  oflfer  of  the  British  officer,  inviting 
his  prisoners  to  join  with  the  enemies  of  their  country  and 


Life  and  Character  of  Francis  B.  Spinola.  21 

their  noble  response,  and  then  quoted  the  language  of  the 
officer,  who  said : 

"  Go  then,"  said  this  officer  to  these  martyrs  of  the  prison  ships,  "go  to 
your  dungeons  iii  the  prison  ships, -where  you  shall  perish  and  rot.  But 
rirst  let  rne  tell  you  that  the  rations  which  have  been  hitherto  allowed  to 
your  wives  and  children  shall  from  this  moment  cease  forever,  aud  you 
shall  die  assured  that  they  are  starving  in  the  public  streets  and  that  you 
are  the  authors  of  their  fate." 

A  sentence  so  terribly  awful  appalled  the  firm  soul  of  every  listening 
hero.  A  solemn  silence  followed  the  declaration.  They  cast  their  wonder- 
ing eyes  one  upon  the  other,  and  valor  for  a  moment  was  suspended 
between  love  of  family  and  love  of  country.  Love  of  country  at  length 
rose  superior  to  every  other  consideration  and,  moved  by  one  impulse, 
this  glorious  band  of  patriots  thundered  in  the  astonished  ears  of  their 
persecutors :  "The  prison  ships  and  death  or  Washington  and  our  country." 

In  closing  his  oration  the  Tammany  orator  said : 

On  this  day  we  lay  the  corner  stone  of  their  tomb.  Their  ashes  hitherto 
have  been  blown  about  like  "summer's  dust  in  the  whirlwind,"  but  the  mar- 
ble column  shall  rest  on  this  spot  and  tell  to  future  ages  the  story  that  they 
had  to  choose  death  or  slavery,  and  that  they  nobly  elected  the  former.  Per- 
haps their  spirits  are  this  moment  on  the  wings  of  the  wind,  hovering  over 
our  heads  and  smiling  on  the  pious  tributes  we  now  humbly  pay  to  their 
memories.  In  this  sepuicher  shall  their  white  bones  be  gathered.  It  shall 
overlook  the  scene  of  their  probation,  and  be  at  once  a  monument  to  Ameri- 
can gratitude  and  of  English  barbarity.  The  curious  mariner  shall  point 
at  it  in  silent  admiration  as  he  passes  at  a  distance,  and  posterity  shall 
call  it  the  tomb  of  the  patriots. 

The  devotion  of  Gen.  SPINOLA  to  the  memory  of  these 
patriots  justifies,  I  think,  my  recalling  these  scenes  and  cere- 
monies. 

Could  it  have  been  possible  for  any  one  to  have  read  of  these 
patriotic  proceedings  or  to  have  heard  them  recounted  by  any 
one  who  witnessed  them,  without  having  the  fires  of  patriotism 
kindled  in  his  heart  ?  They  found  a  ready  response  in  the  heart 
of  young  SPINOLA,  and  the  inspiration  which  then  took  posses- 
sion of  him  remained  warm  and  bright  until  the  day  of  his 
death. 

It  was  very  natural  that  these  impressions,  made  upon  his  mind 
in  early  youth,  should  have  crowded  upon  him  with  renewed 


22          Address  of  Mr.  Wheeler,  of  Alabama,  on  the 

strength  in  his  later  years  and  stimulated  him  in  his  efforts  to 
induce  Congress  to  honor  these  patriots  by  erecting  a  monu- 
ment to  commemorate  their  heroic  endurance  and  to  mark  their 
graves.  The  highest  type  of  manhood,  nobility,  and  chivalrous 
generosity  himself,  he  could  not  but  admire  such  qualities  in 
these  heroes  of  the  past. 

As  I  first  learned  to  know  and  esteem  Gen.  SPINOLA  when 
he  entered  this  Hall,  I  shall  leave  to  others  who  knew  him 
throughout  his  long  and  noble  life  to  tell  of  his  great  services 
to  the  Empire  State,  to  whose  honor  and  interests  that  entire 
life  was  devoted.  Whether  as  a  statesman  or  a  soldier  his 
services  were  in  the  highest  degree  honorable  and  eminent. 
As  a  State  senator  of  New  York,  and  as  one  of  the  ablest  Rep- 
resentatives of  that  State  in  this  Hall,  he  was  ever  ready  with 
his  great  ability  and. irresistible  fervor  to  defend  the  traditions, 
the  honor,  and  the  interests  of  the  imperial  Commonwealth 
he  loved  so  well.  Every  member  of  this  House  was  impressed 
with  Gen.  SPINOLA'S  positive  characteristics.  He  possessed 
the  courage  of  his  convictions  to  a  degree  seldom  found  among 
men.  His  strong  and  well-balanced  mind  fathomed  every 
question,  and  after  divining  what  his  judgment  approved  as 
the  right  course  no  power  on  earth  could  swerve  or  shake  his 
determination. 

As  a  general  on  the  field  of  battle  no  officer  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  achieved  greater  distinction  than  Gen.  SPINOLA 
for  bravery  and  determined  courage.  In  battle  after  battle, 
though  often  wounded,  yet  always  undaunted,  he  led  his  troops 
with  an  intrepidity  which  won  for  him  the  applause  of  his 
army  and  his  country.  From  the  beginning  of  the  war  until 
its  close  his  fortune,  his  services,  and  his  life  were  all  freely 
pffered  to  the  cause  he  had  espoused ;  they  were  all,  without  a 
reservation,  laid  upon  the  altar  of  his  country. 

Inspired  by  the  unparalleled  devotion  of  the  patriots  of  the 


Life  and  Character  of  Francis  B.  Spinola.  23 

Revolution,  his  whole  soul  yearned  to  emulate  the  example  set 
by  them  for  the  imitation  of  the  true  men  of  future  generations, 
and  to  keep  alive  that  spirit  of  devotion  to  country  which  made 
it  possible  for  our  forefathers  to  achieve  our  independence. 
Would  that  these  patriots  could  look  from  their  sacred  graves 
and  behold  the  spirit  which  animated  them  so  beautifully  and 
forcibly  exemplified  in  the  character  and  career  of  the  one  whose 
virtues  we  have  assembled  here  to  commemorate. 


ADDRESS  OF  MR.  GEISSENHAINER,  OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Mr.  SPEAKER  :  Again  the  undiscovered  country  calls  us  to  its 
frontiers,  bids  us  offer  an  affectionate  farewell,  and  to  draw  the 
pall  upon  the  bier  of  another  brother  who  has  gone  to  become 
a  participant  in  its  hidden  mysteries ;  mysteries  in  which  the 
promised  glories  are  to  be  revealed,  the  cherished  hopes  to  be 
fulfilled,  and  the  weary  traveler  to  find  an  eternal  rest;  myste- 
ries which  bring  reward  to  life  well  spent  and  place  the  faithful 
nearer  to  his  God ;  mysteries  which  fulfill  the  evidence  of  things 
unseen  and  realize  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for. 

This  undiscovered  country  can  not  be  entered  without  the 
summons  of  that  grim  messenger  whose  duty  it  is  to  recruit 
the  army  of  the  shadow  world.  His  summons  is  one  of  peace 
to  those  prepared  to  receive  and  enter  the  happy  life  beyond, 
where  no  places  can  be  desolated  and  no  firesides  made  vacant. 
His  summons,  often  rather  a  kindly  invitation,  is  made  to 
young  and  old  alike;  to  the  new-born  infant  and  to  the  one 
whose  mete  of  years  is  full.  To  all  he  comes;  his  imperative 
command  exempts  no  strength  or  degree  of  life.  National 
halls  oppose  no  barrier  to  his  approach.  To  the  last  Congress 
he  appeared  fifteen  times,  reserving  our  late  brother  to  close 
the  list. 


24  Address  of  Mr.  Gcissenhaincr,  of  New  Jersey,  on  the 

Throughout  this  capital  city  are  noted  many  places  where- 
from  our  public  servants  liave  been  bidden.  Within  the  sound 
of  this  very  Chamber  is  marked  the  spot  whence  one  who  had 
occupied  the  most  exalted  station  in  the  people's  gift  was  sud- 
denly called  away. 

Again  this  House  is  assembled  to  offer  the  homage  of  rever- 
ent memory  to  one  who  gathered  with  us  here.  His  bier  is  now 
before  us  and  we  have  come  to  lay  upon  it  with  gentle  hands, 
as  the  last  tribute  permitted  us  to  offer,  flowers  of  tender  regard 
and  jewels  of  affectionate  friendship.  We  too  would  come  to 
deposit  our  humble  testimonial,  not  hoping  that  it  will  increase 
but  simply  mingle  with  the  sweet  odors  already  breathing  there. 

During  the  several  years  we  were  sheltered  beneath  the  same 
roof  it  was  permitted  us  to  enjoy  more  than  a  casual  acquaint- 
ance with  the  venerable  brother  and  thus  to  know  him  as  he 
was  and  understand  his  nature. 

He  had  long  served  the  people  of  his  State  in  legislative 
halls,  and  comprehended  them  and  their  requirements.  This 
knowledge  enabled  him  to  serve  them  here  in  his  latter  years, 
where  no  desire  of  theirs  remained  unsatisfied.  Beneath  a 
brusqueness  was  hidden  the  earnestness  and  devotion  which 
characterized  his  labors. 

Gen.  SPINOLA  had  served  his  country  and  exposed  himself 
to  the  dangers  of  the  battlefield.  He  bore  with  much  discom- 
fort the  wounds  received  at  Wappiug  Heights,  where  he  suc- 
cessfully made  a  brilliant  charge  against  an  outnumbering 
force  that  was  protected  by  a  stone  wall  and  supported  by 
artillery.  It  was,  probably,  owing  to  the  wounds  received  in 
this  gallant  affray  that  Gen.  SPINOLA'S  life  was  shortened. 
From  his  military  experience  he  seems  to  have  acquired  that 
untiring  persistency  with  which  he  ever  advocated  the  cause 
of  the  veteran. 

The  great  ambition  of  his  Congressional  life  was  to  secure 


Life  and  Character  of  Francis  B.  Spinola.  25 

the  erection  of  a  monument  to  the  heroes  of  the  hulk- ships 
martyrs,  whose  bones  after  bleaching  long  upon  the  sands 
were  placed  by  private  hands  within  a  vault  near  Wallabout 
Bay;  a  generous  but  unfitting  tomb  for  remains  of  men  as 
brave  and  true  as  they  had  been. 

In  this  connection  many  will  remember  Gen.  SPINOLA'S 
untiring  exertions.  At  all  times,  in  season  and  out  of  season, 
he  left  no  means  untried  to  accomplish  what  patriotism  had 
thus  far  failed  to  perform. 

No  martyr  monument  was  to  be  a  laurel  for  the  General,  but 
his  efforts  to  secure  its  erection  will  be  ever  borne  in  mind. 
The  last  words  he  uttered  in  this  Chamber  were  in  its  behalf. 
And  yet  a  monument  stands  to  his  memory,  in  the  erection  of 
which  a  pension  was  obtained  for  a  once  prominent  political 
opponent  and  an  unjustly  sullied  reputation  vindicated. 

Gen.  SPINOLA  had  served  two  terms  in  this  House  and  was 
entering  upon  a  third.  Here,  being  gifted  with  a  keen  sense 
of  humor,  he  often  by  his  apt  sayings  and  quick  repartees 
restored  the  sunshine  and  drove  away  the  lowering  clouds. 
With  unswerving  allegiance  to  his  party  household  he  warmly 
resented  unkind  allusions  and  manifested  the  value  of  a  friend- 
ship that  stands  unshaken  amid  the  raging  storms.  Yet  no 
one  took  offense,  and  his  peculiarities  in  speech,  manner,  and 
in  attire  served  only  the  more  to  endear  him  to  his  colleagues 
of  both  sides.  Of  genial,  kindly,  social  disposition,  he  made 
and  had  no  personal  enemies.  To  the  coterie  that  gathered 
about  him  during  the  evenings  everyone  was  welcome.  To 
rekindle  the  camp  fires  and  fight  anew  the  battles  was  a 
favorite  subject  whenever  the  distinguished  war  governor  of 
Pennsylvania  came  in  their  midst.  They  recalled  the  end  of 
others  and  looked  upon  fleeting  time  with  no  fearing  eyes. 
There  came  a  time  when  the  tales  were  almost  told. 

Gradually  the  veteran  drew  near  the  age  around  which  the 


26         Address  of  Mr.  Campbell,  of  New  York,  on  the 

river  winds.  His  days  began  to  wane  and  were  as  flowers  that 
close  at  set  of  sun.  Upon  the  river  bank  he  lingered  waiting 
to  cross  to  the  beauteous  groves  beyond,  and  at  length  there 
came  to  him  in  a  ripe  old  age  the  realization  of  the  last  words 
of  Gen.  Stonewall  Jackson:  "Let  us  cross  over  the  river  and 
rest  under  the  shade  of  the  trees." 


ADDRESS  OF  MR.  CAMPBELL,  OF  NEW  YORK. 

Mr.  SPEAKER:  I  rise  to  participate  in  these  sad  services, 
realizing  the  great  responsibility  and  aware  of  the  lack  of 
ability  on  ray  part  to  do  justice  to  the  memory,  virtues, 
and  statesmanship  of  our  deceased  friend  and  brother,  Gen. 
FRANCIS  SPINOLA.  However,  I  ask  you  to  bear  with  me  and 
make  allowance  for  my  imperfections,  and  to  accept  the  assur- 
ance that  but  for  the  love  I  have  for  his  memory,  I  would  not 
venture  upon  such  a  task.  He  is  dead,  and  all  that  is  left  of 
him  is  the  small  particle  of  clay  which  lies  cold  and  silent  in 
the  tomb.  It  is  hard  to  think  we  will  never  hear  his  ringing 
voice  again  in  this  Hall.  He  is  not  dead — his  spirit  lives — it 
is  abroad.  A  man  dies,  but  his  memory  lives.  His  life,  char- 
acter, and  virtues  will  always  be  cherished  by  and  live  in  the 
hearts  of  his  friends  until  they  become  no  more. 

Men  of  his  character  and  fame  never  die.  How  few  there 
are  who  loved  him  in  life  that  do  not  mourn  him  in  death, 
realizing  all  that  was  great  and  kind  in  his  character — a  citizen 
and  a  soldier  of  the  purest  manhood,  his  every  under  taking- 
was  a  triumph.  In  faith,  in  feeling,  in  practice,  in  all  the 
ardent  aspirations  of  his  soul,  FRANCIS  B.  SPINOLA  was  a 
Deincrat  of  the  purest  Jeffersonian  type.  It  was  impossible 
indeed  from  the  very  nature  of  his  moral  and  intellectual 
organization  that  it  should  be  otherwise. 


Life  and  Character  of  Francis  B.  Spinola.  27 

Sprung  from  the  people,  with  the  most  delicate  apprecia- 
tion of  their  inherent  rights,  with  the  liveliest  solicitude  for 
their  individual  happiness  and  social  prosperity,  with  an 
abounding  confidence  in  their  capacity  to  control  their  own 
affairs,  and  detesting  from  the  innermost  depths  of  his  being 
everything  savoring  of  unfairness,  inequality,  or  oppression, 
his  highest  ideal  of  political  organization  was  a  government  of 
the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people — a  government 
instituted  for  the  benefit  of  the  governed,  and  not  for  the 
aggrandizement  of  the  governing  class,  a  government  so  ad- 
ministered as  to  secure  equal  and  exact  justice  to  all  with 
exclusive  privileges  to  none.  Of  his  religious  views  he  rarely 
spoke,  and  then  only  with  his  most  intimate  friends.  He 
preferred  to  exhibit  the  principles  of  his  creed  in  his  practice 
instead  of  proclaiming  his  sentiments  from  the  house  top. 
They  were  too  sacred  for  the  coarse  ribaldry  of  the  vulgar 
scoffer. 

But  those  who  lived  nearest  to  his  heart  and  were  per- 
mitted to  look  in  upon  the  secret  chamber  of  his  inner  life 
found  there  not  only  the  pleasing  longing  after  immortality 
which  filled  the  soul  of  the  ancient  philosopher,  but  the  most 
serious  and  childlike  faith  in  the  full  realization  of  that 
Heaven-sent  hope  through  the  priceless  promises  of  the  gospel. 

FRANCIS  B.  SPINOLA  was  born  at  Stony  Brook,  Long  Island, 
March  19, 1821;  was  educated  at  the  Quaker  Hill  Academy  in 
Dutchess  County,  New  York ;  was  five  times  elected  an  alder- 
man, three  times  elected  supervisor  of  the  county  of  Kings, 
served  six  years  as  member  of  the  assembly  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  four  years  as  a  senator ;  was  appointed  brigadier- 
general  October,  1862,  for  meritorious  conduct  in  recruiting  and 
organizing  a  brigade  of  four  regiments  and  accompanying  them 
to  the  field ;  was  honorably  discharged  from  the  service,  August, 
1805,  after  haying  been  twice  wounded;  was  a  delegate  to  the 


28         Address  of  Mr.  Campbell,  of  New  York,  on  the 

Democratic  national  convention  which  met  m  the  city  of 
Charleston  in  the  spring  of  I860. 

Gen.  SPINOLA'S  death  leaves  Mr.  Hugh  McLaughlin,  his  col- 
league, the  last  survivor  of  the  great  body  of  distinguished  Dem- 
ocrats that  represented  the  Empire  State  in  that  convention. 
Gen.  SPINOLA  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Fiftieth  and  Fifty- 
first  Congresses,  and  also  reflected  to  the  Fifty-second.  Mar- 
ried in  early  life,  he  was  blessed  with  a  companion  who  went 
with  him  in  all  his  trials  and  rejoiced  in  all  his  triumphs.  She 
was  in  full  sympathy  with  all  his  intellectual  exertions.  A 
sympathetic  nation  joins  in  her  sorrow  for  her  illustrious  dead. 

Gen.  SPINOLA  loved.  hi$  country  with  the  fervor  which 
should  characterize  a  patriot  whose  ancestors  had  fought  in 
the  Eevolution;  his  grandfather  had  drawn  the  sword  of  a  cap- 
tain in  that  glorious  struggle.  What  his  father  fought  for  and 
established  he  maintained.  His  voice  and  pen  were  both  dedi- 
cated to  the  institutions  of  his  country.  The  perpetuation  of 
constitutional  government  was  the  aspiration  of  his  youth,  the 
aim  of  his  most  vigorous  manhood,  and  the  solicitude  of  his 
declining  years.  The  mad  passions  of  sectional  hate  never 
burned  in  his  bosom,  the  unmanly  utterance  of  sectional  preju- 
dice never  polluted  his  tongue. 

Our  flag  was  emblematic  to  him  of  one  country  and  one  peo- 
ple. The  brightness  of  each  star  and  the  whiteness  of  each 
stripe  told  him  of  a  great  Government  where  every  State  had 
a  right  to  administer  its  domestic  concerns  in  its  own  way,  yet 
where  all  the  States  were  cemented  together  in  the  bond  of 
constitutional  union  for  the  general  welfare  and  the  common 
good.  He  ever  contended  for  the  observance  of  the  Constitu- 
tion. He  was  always  found  in  the  ranks,  or  rather  in  the 
lead  of  those  who  struggled  to  maintain  the  rights  of  men. 
He  took  high  rank  in  whatever  field  of  intellectual  labor  he 
entered.  Whether  we  view  him  as  a  student  or  statesman 


Life  arid  Character  of  Francis  B.  Spinola.  29 

he  was  the  same — strong  in  intellect,  eloquent  in  speech, 
warm  in  his  friendship. 

Mr.  Speaker,  when  another  century  shall  have  passed 
away,  when  the  State  of  his  birth  shall  have  attained  10,000,000 
population  and  the  city  of  his  adoption  shall  have  become 
the  metropolis  of  the  world,  as  it  is  now  the  metropolis  of  the 
continent,  when  the  glorious  Eepublic  shall  have  a  quarter 
of  a  billion  of  people  and  the  student  of  history  looks  back 
to  the  first  century  of  national  existence,  whenever  his  mind 
lingers  to  revel  in  the  delights  of  literature  or  of  deeds  of  men, 
FRANCIS  B.  SPINOLA  will  be  recognized  as  among  those  who 
loved  his  country  and  his  race. 

And,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  hope  and  pray  that  his  soul  is  at  peace 
with  God,  and  while  his  body  lies  in  its  own  beloved  Green- 
wood, his  friends  will  keep  him  green  in  their  hearts. 


ADDRESS  OF  MR.  BELDEN,  OF  NEW  YORK. 

Mr.  SPEAKER:  It  is  with  feelings  of  sadness  in  common 
with  my  colleagues  that  I  join  in  their  tributes  to  our  deceased 
friend,  FRANCIS  B.  SPINOLA.  We  cherish  his  many  virtues 
and  qualities,  which  time  only  can  efface  from  the  minds  of 
those  who  knew  him  so  well  in  this  life.  Nothing  but  the 
love  I  have  for  his  memory  would  induce  me  to  speak  now. 
My  acquaintance  with  FRANCIS  B.  SPINOLA  began  more  than 
thirty  years  ago,  and  from  the  time  I  first  met  him  until  his 
death  we  were  friends.  I  remember  him  at  the  close  of  the 
session  of  the  senate  of  New  York  when  he  spoke  so  earnestly 
on  the  bill  to  appropriate  $10,000,000  for  the  defense  of  the 
Union.  Those  who  witnessed  that  closing  session  will  never 
forget  the  enthusiasm  of  both  branches  of  the  legislature,  of 
both  parties,  at  the  firing  of  the  first  gun  on  Fort  Sumter. 


30          Address  of  Mr.  Belden,  of  New  York,  on  the 

Gen.  SPINOLA  loved  his  country  with  intense  enthusiasm. 
He  was  ready  to  maintain  and  risk  his  life  for  the  Union  which 
his  ancestors  had  fought  for  in  the  Revolution. 

His  grandfather  was  a  captain  in  Washington's  army,  and 
remained  such  during  the  entire  war. 

FRANCIS  B.  SPINOLA  was  born  at  Stony  Brook,  Long  Island, 
in  March,  1821.  He  remained  there  until  he  was  10  years  of 
age,  and  was  then  sent  to  the  Quaker  Hill  Academy  at  Pough- 
keepsie,  where  he  remained  for  five  years;  he  then  came  to 
New  York,  as  many  farmer's  sons  have  done,  to  enter  on  a 
new  career.  His  life,  from  the  time  he  came  to  the  great  city, 
was  a  busy  one.  He  was  elected  five  times  as  an  alderman, 
three  times  to  the  assembly,  and  three  times  as  a  senator  to 
the  legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

In  the  war  of  the  rebellion  he  commanded  a  brigade  of  vol- 
unteers, and  at  Suffolk,  Va.,  in  1863,  when  he  was  wounded ; 
and  the  wounds  there  received  were  really  the  cause  of  his 
death. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  he  returned  to  the  city  he  loved  and 
engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits.  Afterward,  entering  again 
into  political  life,  he  was  honored  by  his  party  with  an  election 
in  the  Fiftieth,  Fifty-first,  and  Fifty-second  Congresses. 

He  was  a  delegate  to  the  Charleston  Democratic  convention 
of  1860,  and  one  of  the  few  survivors  at  the  time  of  his  decease 
of  that  memorable  assemblage,  which  ended  in  the  disruption 
of  the  Democratic  party  and  which  resulted  in  the  election  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  and  the  downfall  of  slavery. 

Gen.  SPINOLA  was  a  friend  and  associate  of  Stephen  A. 
Douglas,  Governor  Seymour,  Chief- Justice  Sanford  E.  Church, 
Dean  Richmond,  and  other  eminent  men  who  have  passed  over 
to  the  silent  majority. 

It  is  a  consolation  to  his  friends  to  know  that  in  his  illness 
and  last  hours  he  was  surrounded  by  his  loving  family,  soothed 
and  sustained,  while  his  soul  was  passing  to  his  Maker. 


Life  and  Character  of  Francis  B.  Spinola.  31 


ADDRESS  OF  MR.  HOOKER  OF  MISSISSIPPI. 

Mr.  SPEAKER  :  I  had  the  pleasure  first  to  meet  our  deceased 
brother,  in  honor  of  whom  these  obsequies  are  held  in  the  House 
to-day,  in  the  Fiftieth  Congress,  to  which  he  was  elected  a 
member,  as  I  was  myself.  With  great  propriety  the  then  dis- 
tinguished Speaker  of  the  House  [Mr.  Carlisle],  in  assigning 
Gen.  SPINOLA  to  a  suitable  sphere  of  duties  on  the  committees 
of  the  House,  placed  him  on  the  Military  Committee.  I  had 
the  honor  to  serve  on  that  same  committee,  and  thus  it  chanced 
that  we  were  thrown  intimately  together  during  the  period  of 
that  Congress. 

I  say  that  he  was  appropriately  placed  upon  that  commit- 
tee, because  during  the  war  he  led  the  life-  of  a  military  man. 
He  had  exhibited  great  devotion  to  the  side  upon  which  he 
enlisted.  His  whole  heart  and  soul  and  mind  and  life  were 
devoted  to  the  cause.  And  yet  he  was  one  of  those  liberal 
men  who  wore  the  blue  during  that  contest  between  the  States 
who  understood  that  when  that  war  terminated  it  terminated 
by  a  capitulation  between  the  contending  forces :  and  he  not 
only  bore  no  ill-will  to  the  men  against  whom  he  fought  and 
who  fought  against  him,  but  he  recognized  that  the  surrender 
of  Lee  to  Grant  was  upon  given,  express  terms,  and  that  the 
surrender  of  Johnston  in  North  Carolina  to  Sherman  was  the 
same,  except  that  it  was  upon  terms  more  favorably  expressed. 

Those  terms  were  that  the  men  who  wore  the  gray  in  that 
conflict  should  lay  down  their  arms,  retire  to  their  homes,  and 
yield  obedience  to  the  laws  of  the  Government ;  and  in  return 
the  distinguished  leaders  of  the  Union  Army  stipulated  that 
they  should  receive  the  protection  of  the  laws  of  the  Govern- 
ment. Gen.  SPINOLA  well  understood  that  those  were  the 


32         Address  of  Mr.  Hooker,  of  Mississippi,  on  the 

terms  of  the  capitulation,  aud  therefore,  when  the  war  was 
over,  he  gave  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  to  the  men  who 
had  been  in  conflict  against  him. 

It  was  my  fortune  to  be  one  of  those  contending  on  the 
other  side,  whom  he  did  the  honor  to  call  his  friends ;  and, 
Mr.  Speaker,  although  I  only  returned  to  the  city  on  yester- 
day,  after  an  absence  of  some  days,  I  do  not  feel  that  it  would 
be  proper  for  me  to  permit  this  occasion  to  pass  without 
paying  my  humble  tribute,  in  addition  to  that  which  his 
distinguished  colleagues  have  appropriately  paid  in  more 
elaborate  addresses.  I  deem  it  my  duty,  therefore,  to  say 
something  in  reference  to  what  I  knew  of  our  departed 
brother,  and  to  bear  my  testimony,  in  common  with  those  who 
have  expressed  it  in  more  formulated  style,  to  the  manner  in 
which  he  demeaned  himself  as  a  legislator  in  these  halls. 

His  advent  here"  was  marked  by  a  recognition  of  the  distin- 
guished services  which  he  had  rendered  in  former  legislative 
bodies  of  which  he  was  a  member.  As  has  been  well  said  by 
his  colleagues,  he  had  been  distinguished  for  his  services,  and, 
as  was  fittingly  said  by  the  gentleman  from  New  York  who  last 
spoke  [Mr.  Belden],  he  had  been  long  known  and  distinguished 
in  both  houses  of  the  legislature  of  the  great  Empire  State 
for  the  same  character  of  ability  which  he  manifested  here. 
Gen.  SPINOLA  was  an  earnest  man :  he  was  an  honest  man;  he 
was  a  zealous  man;  he  was  an  outspoken  man;  he  was  a  man 
who  came  to  the  front  whenever  the  party  to  which  he  was 
attached  was  imperiled,  and  yet  a  man  who,  when  his  country 
was  imperiled,  could  forget  his  party  and  rise  to  the  dignity 
of  the  higher  duty  which  devolved  upon  him  as  a  patriot. 
His  career  has  been  spoken  of  by  a  friend  of  his,  who  gave  me 
a  simple  memorandum  containing  a  statement  of  its  chief 
features,  and  I  may  be  permitted  therefore  to  read  from  that 
memorandum  a  brief  epitome  of  the  life  of  Gen.  SPINOLA. 


Life  and  Character  of  Francis  B,  Spinola.  33 

He  was  born  at  Stony  Brook,  Long  Island,  on  March  19, 
]S21;  was  educated  at  Quaker  Hill  Academy  in  Dutchess 
County,  New  York;  was  five  times  elected  an  alderman,  three 
times  a  supervisor;  served  six  years  as  a  member  of  the 
assembly  of  the  State  of  Few  York,  and  four  years  as  a  senator; 
was  appointed  a  brigadier-general  of  volunteers,  October  25, 
1862,  for  meritorious  conduct  in  recruiting  and  organizing  a 
brigade  of  four  regiments  and  accompanying  them  to  the  field. 
He  was  honorably  discharged  from  the  service  in  August,  1865, 
after  having  been  twice  wounded  during  his  military  service. 
He  was  a  delegate  to  the  Democratic  convention  which  met  at 
Charleston  in  the  spring  of  1860;  was  elected  to  the  Fiftieth 
Congress;  was  reflected  to  the  Fifty-first  Congress,  and  was 
also  reflected  to  this,  the  Fifty-second  Congress. 

This  is  a  brief  statement  of  the  public  positions  which  he 
held;  and  when  he  came  here  he  took  rank  in  this  high  arena 
of  debate  with  the  oldest  and  the  most  experienced  members. 
He  brought  to  bear  that  element  of  character  in  a  legislator  and 
a  debater  which  I  consider  more  important  than  the  power  of 
oratory.  The  old  orator  of  Latin  days  said  that  oratory  con- 
sisted of  "action,"  "action,"  "action."  If  I  might  be  so  bold 
as  to  venture  upon  a  correction  of  the  definition  of  the  word 
from  so  high  a  source,  I  should  say  that  true  oratory  consists 
in  earnestness,  earnestness,  earnestness.  And  it  was  this  ele- 
ment which  emphatically  tinged  every  feature  of  the  character 
of  Gen.  SPINOLA.  He  was  an  efficient  member  of  the  com- 
mittee to  which  he  belonged,  a  faithful  representative  of  the 
constituency  which  he  had  the  honor  so  ably  to  represent 
here.  Though  oftentimes  feeble  in  health,  he  was  always  found 
at  his  post  of  duty  when  in  the  city,  constantly  in  his  seat  as 
a  Eepresentative  here,  constantly  in  attendance  upon  the 
meetings  of  his  committee;  and  no  man  fulfilled  the  duties  of 

H.  Mis.  102 3 


34          Address  of  Mr.  Hooker,  of  Mississippi,  on  the 

a  ^Representative  with  a  truer  sense  of  the  responsibility  to 
his  constituency  than  did  Gen.  SPINOLA. 

It  has  been  referred  to  by  my  eloquent  friend  from.  Alabama 
[Mr.  Wheeler]  who  spoke  in  commemoration  of  my  friend. 
Gen.  SPINOLA,  that  there  was  one  subject  to  which  he  seemed 
particularly  devoted,  one  topic  upon  which  he  never  tired  of 
speaking,  one  cause  that  to  him  was  dearer  than  all  others. 
It  was  the  cause  of  the  dead.  Most  men  who  speak,  speak 
for  the  applause  of  the  living.  Most  men  who  speak  are 
doing  so  because  they  have  a  constituency  who  are  to  respond 
to  their  addresses.  He  spoke  for  those  who  had  been  buried 
for  a  century,  who  had  died  in  the  prison  ships  of  the  British 
Government  off  the  island  upon  which  he  lived.  He  spoke  in 
able  and  earnest  terms.  He  gave  a  history  of  the  manner  in 
which  those  men  had  lost  their  lives. 

He  stated  in  his  speech  and  in  the  report  of  which  he  was 
the  author,  a  report  made  from  the  Military  Committee,  to  which 
he  belonged,  that  the  loss  of  life  on  the  British  prison  ships 
in  the  war  of  the  Eevolution  was  absolutely  greater  than  the 
loss  in  all  the  battles  both  by  sea  and  land  in  that  seven  years 
war.  It  was  a  memorable  thing,  and  he  felt  that  the  country 
owed  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  those  who  had  suffered  and  died 
in  this  cause.  He  pointed  in  the  speech  which  he  made  to 
the  fact  that  we  were  making  suitable  provision  for  those  who 
had  survived  the  war  between  the  States,  by  granting  them 
pensions;  that  we  give  pensions  to  the  widows  and  children 
of  those  who  perished  in  that  war.  Then  he  said,  here  are 
11,000  men  whose  bones  lie  bleaching  on  the  shores  of  Long 
Island,  near  the  bay  where  the  prison  ships  of  the  British 
were  anchored  during  the  war  of  the  Eevolution.  Some  gen- 
erous-hearted people  in  Brooklyn  had  gathered  those  bones 
together  and  given  then  decent  interment. 

He  gave  a  history  of  the  case,  and  appealed  to  the  Congress 


Life  and  Character  of  Francis  B.  Spinola.  35 

of  the  United  States,  while  they  were  paying  pensions  to  the 
living,  to  the  survivors  of  the  Eevolution  and  the  war  of  1812 
and  of  the  war  between  the  States,  that  a  common  sentiment 
of  justice,  of  humanity,  of  love  for  those  who  had  perished  in 
those  prison  ships  in  the  war  which  gave  birth  to  the  Eepub- 
lic  ought  to  animate  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  to 
make  a  simple  donation  of  $50,000,  which  was  all  he  asked. 

I  remember,  as  he  arose  from  his  seat  just  in  front  of  the 
Speaker,  that  he  addressed  the  House  with  so  much  earnest- 
ness upon  this  subject  that  his  appeal  was  so  powerful  that 
every  man  in  the  Hall  listened  to  him.  And  I  believe  that  had 
he  survived  and  been  a  member  of  this  Congress  the  stern 
energy,  the  devoted  patriotism  which  characterized  him,  would 
have  eventually  crowned  his  efforts  with  success.  I  can  not 
pay  his  memory  a  higher  tribute  than  by  reading  from  the 
Eecord  of  the  Fiftieth  Congress  what  he  had  to  say  when  that 
bill  was  under  consideration.  I  hope,  therefore,  that  the  mem- 
bers of  the  House  will  bear  with  me  while  I  turn  to  the  Record 
to  recall  the  words  in  which  he  expressed  himself.  I  read  from 
pages  6559-60  of  the  Congressional  Eecord  of  July  10,  1888: 

Mr.  SPINOLA.  Mr.  Speaker,  history  establishes  the  fact  that  there  were 
more  lives  sacrificed  in  the  prison  ships  in  which  the  British  confined  the 
prisoners  of  the  American  Revolution  than  were  lost  in  all  the  battles  of 
that  war.  Eleven  thousand  and  five  hundred  were  sacrificed,  men  who 
had  their  liberty  at  command  on  any  day  when  they  would  consent  to 
abandon  the  cause  of  the  colonies  and  enter  the  British  Army.  There  was 
no  one  day  during  their  long  confinement  and  suffering  but  the  provost 
guard  approached  them  and  offered  them  their  freedom  if  they  would 
embrace  the  British  cause ;  and,  to  the  credit  of  twenty  thousand  American 
patriots  who  suffered  on  board  those  prison  ships,  there  never  was  but  a 
single  one  who  betrayed  his  country  and  left  his  associates  and  joined  the 
British  service.  [Applause.]  Now,  sir,  I  will  ask  attention  for  a  minute 
or  two  while  I  read  from  the  history  of  the  Wallabout  prison  ships  and  the 
martyrs  who  died  there. 

I  will  cite    one  case  where  the    British  had  captured   a  company    of 
American  soldiers  in  South  Carolina,  and  the*  Hessian  captain  who  com- 
manded the  enemy  offered  those  men  their  freedom  if  they  would  go  into- 
the  British  service.     Said  he,  after  they  had  refused  his  offer : 


36         Address  of  Mr.  Hooker,  of  Mississippi,  on  the 

"  Go,  then,  to  your  dungeons  in  the  prison  ships  where  you  shall  perish 
and  rot.  But  first  let  rue  tell  you  that  rations  which  have  been  hitherto 
allowed  to  your  wives  and  children  shall  from  this  moment  cease  forever, 
and  you  shall  die  assured  that  they  are  starving  in  the  public  streets,  and 
that  you  are  the  authors  of  their  fate." 

That  was  the  declaration  of  that  British  officer  to  the  company  of  Ameri- 
can patriots  that  had  been  captured  in  South  Carolina.  A  sentence  so 
terribly  awful  appalled  the  firm  soul  of  every  listening  hero. 

"  A  solemn  silence  followed  the  declaration.  They  cast  their  wondering 
eyes  one  upon  the  other,  and  valor  for  a  moment  hung  suspended  between 
love  of  family  and  love  of  country.  Love  of  country  at  length  rose  supe- 
rior to  every  other  consideration,  and,  moved  by  one  impulse,  this  glorious 
band  of  patriots  thundered  in  the  astonished  ears  of  their  persecutors : 
'  The  prison  ships  and  death,  or  Washington  and  our  country ! '  " 

[Applause  and  cries  of  "  Vote !  "  "  Vote !  "] 

******* 

The  bones  of  the  patriotic  soldiers  who  died  in  the  prison  ships  were  put 
in  the  temporary  tomb,  which  was  erected  by  Benjamin  Romaine,  the 
grand  sachem,  who  had  been  instrumental  in  gathering  them  together  and 
who  owned  the  ground  on  which  the  tomb  was  erected.  In  1842  the  city 
of  Brooklyn  asked  to  have  the  bones  turned  over  to  it  for  appropriate 
sepulture.  In  reply  to  that  application  Mr.  Romaiue  wrote : 

"I  have  guarded  these  sacred  remains,  with  a  reverence  which  perhaps 
at  this  day  all  may  not  appreciate  or  feel,  for  more  than  thirty  years. 
They  are  now  in  their  right  place,  near  the  Wallabout  and  adjoining  the 
navy  yard.  They  are  my  property.  I  have  expended  more  than  $900  in 
and  about  their  protection  and  preservation.  I  commend  them  to  the 
protection  of  the  General  Government.  I  bequeath  them  to  my  country." 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  he  gave  them  to  the  United  States ;  he  gave  them 
to  his  country. 

"This  concern  is  sacred  to  me.  It  lies  near  my  heart.  I  suffered  with 
those  whose  bones  I  venerate.  I  fought  beside  them.  I  bled  with  them." 

This  man  belonged  to  the  army  himself;  he  went  through  the  whole 
seven  years'  service  under  Washington.  He  has  given  the  remains  of 
these  men  to  the  American  Republic.  If  they  had  not  died  the  martyr's 
death  that  they  did  we  would  have  had,  in  my  humble  judgment,  no 
American  Republic  to-night.  Those  men  died  to  create  the  Union.  We 
respect  and  venerate  those  who  in  later  years  have  died  to  protect  and 
preserve  the  Union;  why  should  we  not  remember  those  by  means  of 
whose  sufferings  the  Republic  itself  was  established? 

This  monument,  where  it  is  proposed  to  erect  it,  will  overlook  the  very 
spot  on  which  these  men  died.  It  will  overlook  the  battlefield  of  Long 
Island;  it  will  overlook  the  place  where  the  gallant  Maryland  regiment 
suffered  death  when  the  Brisish  drove  them  into  the  water.  It  will  over- 
look New  York  Bay,  the  East  River,  and  the  Sound.  There  is  no  more 
fitting  place  on  earth  for  such  a  monument  to  be  erected  than  that  pro- 
posed by  the  bill  under  consideration.  I  appeal  to  the  generosity  and 


Life  and  Character  of  Francis  B.  Spinola.  37 

patriotism  of  the  American  people.  1  ask  gentlemen  here  to-night,  in  the 
name  of  justice  and  right,  to  join  in  perpetuating  the  memory  of  these 
men  who  died  as  martyrs  for  their  country. 

There  is  nothing  so  indelibly  fixed  on  my  mind  as  that  which  was  painted 
there  the  first  time  I  saw  the  tomb  of  these  men.  It  was  over  sixty 
years  ago,  when  I  was  a  small  boy.  For  fifty  years  the  society  which 
gathered  these  bones  raised  the  flag  over  them  on  the  4th  of  July.  That 
ceremony  ceased  to  be  observed  because  the  city  of  Brooklyn  took  pos- 
session of  these  remains,  and  they  are  in  its  charge  now.  I  believe  that 
the  American  people,  if  this  question  were  submitted  to  them,  would  vote 
almost  unanimously  for  any  sum  which  might  be  named  for  this  purpose. 
We  are  paying  to-day  $160,000  a  year  for  the  maintenance  of  the  ceme- 
teries in  which  sleep  our  Union  dead.  That  is  right.  We  are  paying 
$40,000  or  $50,000  to  provide  monuments  or  grave  stones  for  those  who 
have  died  in  the  service  of  the  country.  We  are  spending  $60,000  or 
$80,000  a  year  for  the  construction  and  maintenance  of  roads  by  which 
these  cemeteries  can  be  approached. 

All  this  is  right.  Sir,  on  the  passage  of  this  bill,  if  the  thing  were  pos- 
sible, I  would  have  the  name  of  George  Washington  called.  He  would 
A^ote  "ay."  So  would  his  compatriot,  Lafayette.  [Applause.]  Every- 
body will  vote  for  this  measure  except  that  British  officer  in  the  corner 
yonder  [pointing  to  the  picture  on  one  side  of  the  Hall]  and  the  Hessians 
who  stand  behind  him.  They  will  not  vote  with  us.  I  do  not  believe 
there  is  a  Hessian  on  the  floor  of  this  House ;  therefore  I  expect  a  unani- 
mous vote  in  favor  of  the  passage  of  this  bill.  [Applause.] 

I  hope,  sir,  that  these  patriot  martyrs  shall  not,  now  that 
Gen.  SPINOLA  is  dead,  want  an  advocate  for  this  common  act 
of  justice  on  the  part  of  the  American  people.  His  mantle  in 
this  Congress,  to  which  he  was  elected,  has,  by  the  choice  of 
the  people  of  the  Tenth  Congressional  district  of  New  York, 
fallen  upon  one  of  the  most  distinguished  lawyers  of  that 
city,  renowned  not  only  for  his  power  at  the  bar,  but  as  an 
orator.  While  he  thus  steps  into  the  shoes  and  falls  heir  to 
the  mantle  of  Gen.  SPINOLA,  I  hope  he  will  be  inspired  with 
a  desire  to  carry  out  the  effort  of  that  gentleman  during  his 
lifetime  to  secure  this  simple  act  of  justice  to  the  martyrs 
who  died  in  the  British  prison  ships,  and  that  the  news  may 
be  carried  to  him  in  that  other  world,  where  he  has  gone  to 
receive  his  reward,  that  if  he  did  not  succeed  himself,  his 
people  have  chosen  a  successor  here  who  will  still  urge  upon 


38  Address  of  Mr.  Cooper,  of  Indiana,  on  the 

the  American  Congress  to  do  that  act  of  duty  in  the  endeavor 
to  procure  which  Gen.  SPINOLA  spent  the  closing  years  of 
his  life. 

It  was  my  pleasure  frequently  to  enjoy  his  most  cordial 
welcome  and  enlarged  hospitality  in  this  city.  It  was  also 

« 

my  pleasure  on  one  occasion  to  accompany  him  from  this  city, 
and  to  accept  the  hospitality  of  that  political  society  to  which 
he  was  proud  to  belong.  There,  in  his  company,  I  shared  the 
hospitality  of  Tammany  Hall  j  and  whether  here,  in  his  commo- 
dious quarters,  presided  over  with  so  much  grace  and  elegance 
by  his  accomplished  and  devoted  wife,  or  whether  in  that  hall 
where  he  had  so  often  sat  with  his  comrades  who  agreed  with 
him  on  political  questions,  he  dispensed  hospitality  with  that 
rare  grace  and  earnestness  of  manner  which  belonged  to  few 
men.  Those  qualities  of  earnestness,  Mr.  Speaker,  and  those 
qualities  of  genial  hospitality  attached  men  to  him  with 
"hooks  of  steel 5"  and  when  once  they  became  known  to  Gen. 
SPINOLA,  they  never  failed  to  love  him. 

Now,  he  has  passed  away ;  but  we,  who  knew  him  in  these  Halls, 
follow  him  with  our  love.  He  has  gone  to  that  "  undiscovered 
country,  from  whose  bourne  no  traveler  returns."  He  has  gone ; 
and  in  our  verdict,  we  pronounce  that  he  possessed  the  character 
of  an  earnest,  honest,  and  patriotic  man.  We  now  commit  him 
humbly  to  the  judgment  of  Him  whose  all-seeing  eye  watches 
the  sparrow  as  it  falls  and  counts  the  unnumbered  sands  upon 
the  seashore  and  weigheth  the  hills  as  in  a-scale  and  the  moun- 
tains in  balances  and  measureth  the  waters  of  the  earth  in  the 
hollow  of  His  hand. 


Life  and  Character  of  Francis  J3.  Spinola.  39 

ADDRESS  OF  MR.  COOPER,  OF  INDIANA. 

Mr.  SPEAKER  :  What  we  do  and  say  here  to-day  is  for  the  liv- 
ing, not  for  the  dead.  FRANCIS  B.  SPINOLA  has  passed  away 
from  earth.  His  account  is  balanced,  and  the  books  are  closed. 
No  word  of  ours  can  help  or  harm  him  now.  If  from  a  sense  of 
bereavement  or  sorrow,  or  if  by  way  of  atonement  for  past 
indifference  to  merit,  we  make  some  demonstration  over  the 
graves  of  our  friends  this  fact  may  reflect  credit  upon  us ;  it 
may  satisfy  our  consciences  and  allay  our  grief,  but  it  can  not 
affect  the  departed 

If  the  bitterness  engendered  in  a  life  of  toil  and  struggle 
should  still  be  manifest;  if  the  voice  of  opposition  and  the 
spirit  of  envy  which  assail  and  follow  the  living  should  find 
utterance  against  the  dead,  it  would  expose  the  weakness  of 
our  nature  and  the  wickedness  of  the  human  heart;  it  would 
reflect  upon  the  living  but  it  could  not  harm  the  dead.  In  life 
a  man's  character  belongs  to  him ;  in  a  certain  sense  it  is  his 
property;  he  is  its  builder;  he  must  protect  and  defend  it. 
When  the  work  is  finished  and  the  workman  is  called  away, 
that  which  is  left  belongs  to  the  world ;  it  is  the  property  of 
the  race. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  it  seems  to  me  not  only  proper  but 
profitable  to  devote  some  time  to  the  consideration  of  the  lives 
of  such  of  our  colleagues  as  have  fallen  around  us  here,  to  put 
upon  record  our  estimate  of  their  character  and  to  furnish  to 
the  world  an  inventory  of  its  new  acquisition. 

Mr.  Speaker,  my  acquaintance  with  Gen.  SPINOLA  began 
with  the  Fifty-first  Congress,  and  my  opportunities  for  study 
ing  his  character  were  limited  to  our  two  years  of  service  here. 
During  that  time  there  were  few  men  on  this  floor  who  were 
accorded  more  marked  attention  or  respectful  consideration. 
He  was  in  many  respects  a  remarkable  man. 


40  Address  of  Mr.  Cooper,  of  Indiana,  on  the 

In  the  first  place,  he  was  a  strong  individuality  j  he  was 
not  a  machine-made  man.  By  some  chance  or  other  he  had 
escaped  the  inexorable  processes  of  our  latter-day  training 
which  prunes  every  faculty  and  reduces  every  aspiration 
to  a  formula.  He  had  some  lines  of  character  which  neither 
fashion  nor  friction  nor  the  so-called  culture  of  modern  society 
could  polish  away.  He  was  unique  and  therefore  interesting. 
Though  representing  a  metropolitan  district  he  had  all  the 
appearance  and  demeanor  of  a  pioneer,  and  had  he  lived  in 
one  of  our  Western  communities  we  should  have  called  him 
"uncle"  and  made  him  governor  of  the  State. 

Mr.  Speaker,  it  is  unfortunate  for  our  country  and  the  times 
in  which  we  live  that  the  tendency  is  to  dwarf  the  individual. 
At  the  doorway  of  our  schools  the  children  stand  in  line; 
having  entered  they  are  graded  and  classified,  and  the 
necessity  for  discipline  and  methods  in  dealing  with  numbers 
leaves  little  room  for  the  orderly  exercise  or  development  of 
individual  traits.  Instead  of  dealing  with  the  child  as  a 
plant  which  should  be  suffered  to  develop  on  all  sides  in 
obedience  to  the  law  of  its  nature  and  from  the  forces  supplied 
from  within,  it  is  set  in  a  row  and  trimmed  so  that  the  lines 
may  be  even  and  the  general  effect  symmetrical. 

This  synthetic  process  has  also  obtained  in  other  departments 
of  life.  Men  must  stand  in  line  at  the  shop,  at  the  ticket  office 
at  the  theater,  at  the  railway  station,  and  even  at  the  doors 
of  our  popular  churches.  The  village  blacksmith  now  stands 
among  a  wilderness  of  wheels,  where  he  is  known  by  number 
and  not  by  name,  and  merely  superintends  a  machine  which  is 
in  itself  almost  automatic.  Our  Priscilla  is  taken  from  her 
spindle  and  her  distaff,  and  she  stands  in  line  to  watch  the 
play  of  steam-driven  fingers. 

Mr.  Speaker,  just  what  should  be  done  to  arrest  this  process 
by  which,  like  pebbles  in  the  bed  of  a  brook,  we  are  all  to  be 


Life  and  Character  of  Francis  B.  Spinola.  41 

rounded  and  evened  up,  just  how  in  the  midst  of  a  multitude 
each  one  shall  still  be  suffered  to  pursue  his  individual  path, 
this  is  neither  the  time  nor  place  to  discuss.  I  have  called 
attention  to  this  condition  in  order  to  give  emphasis  to  the 
character  of  him  whose  loss  we  mourn  here  to-day. 

The  lesson  of  his  life  is  that,  notwithstanding  the  evident 
tendency  of  the  times  is  to  group  and  label,  to  grade  and 
classify  mankind,  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to  realize  the  value 
of  his  own  individuality,  and  that  to  develop  and  preserve  the 
forces  which  are  peculiar  to  each  is  to  respond  to  the  call  of  God 
within  us  and  to  execute  his  infinite  purpose  concerning  us. 

Gen.  SPINOLA  was  a  man  of  great  courage.  It  was  perhaps 
owing  to  the  predominance  of  this  characteristic  trait  that  he 
was  able  to  survive  all  the  enervating  influences  of  our  modern 
so-called  culture,  and  that  he  could  not  be  brought  either  by 
compromise  or  compulsion  to  worship  at  its  altar.  I  repeat 
he  was  a  man  of  marked  individuality  5  he  bore  no  stamper 
factory  brand.  He  could  create;  he  could  not  imitate.  He 
could  lead,  but  he  did  not  know  how  to  follow. 

There  was  a  little  passage  at  arms  here  on  this  floor  during 
the  first  session  of  the  Fifty-first  Congress  between  him  and  one 
of  his  colleagues  from  New  York  [Mr.  Lansing],  in  which  the 
latter  paid  to  him,  perhaps  unwittingly,  the  greatest  and  most 
fitting  compliment  which,  to  my  mind,  could  be  framed  into 
language.  In  discussing  the  question  of  prison  labor  Gen. 
SPINOLA  had  called  attention  to  the  evil  consequences  of  bring- 
ing convict  labor  into  competition  with  free  and  honest  artisans, 
and  in  the  course  of  these  remarks  he  had  referred  to  the  posi- 
tion arid  demands  of  some  labor  organizations  in  his  State. 
Responding,  Mr.  Lansing  said: 

It  was  said  of  my  friend  and  colleague  from  New  York  that  when  he  was 
a  soldier,  if  lie  saw  a  whole  corps  of  rebels  he  did  not  think  they  were  more 
than  a  corporal's  guard,  but  now  he  seems  to  see  in  every  labor  organiza- 
tion of  ten  a  whole  election  district. 


42  Address  of  Mr.  Cooper,  of  Indiana,  on  the 

And  this  may  be  taken  as  a  key  to  Iris  character.  He  was 
brave  when  his  duty  was  clear,  but  he  was  afraid  to  do  wrong. 
He  could  fight  and  lead  in  the  front  of  battle ;  the  loud-mouthed 
cannon  and  the  saber's  flash,  the  onset  and  shock  of  battle  had 
no  terrors  for  him,  but  as  a  conscientious  and  faithful  servant 
of  the  people,  when  called  to  act  where  there  was  doubt  or 
danger,  he  became  fearful  lest  he  might  not  clearly  understand 
and  fully  record  their  wishes. 

Mr.  Speaker,  the  deceased  was  a  kind  and  friendly  man.  As 
a  humble  Representative  from  a  distant  State  I  came  here  a 
stranger  to  this  place,  and  from  the  first  he  gave  me  the  most 
cordial  and  generous  treatment.  Now  that  he  is  gone,  I  gladly 
bear  testimony  to  my  impressions  concerning  him,  and  can 
truthfully  say  that  to  me  he  seemed  strong,  and  brave,  and 
true.  His  career  on  earth  is  ended,  but  the  impression  he  leaves 
behind  is  clear  and  distinct,  and  it  will  become  brighter  as  it 
is  studied,  and  more  precious  in  that  day  when  the  world  learns 
that  her  richest  treasures  are  the  names  of  her  brave  and  manly 
men. 

Mr.  CUMMINGS.  I  ask  for  the  reading  of  the  resolutions 
sent  to  the  desk  at  the  beginning  of  the  special  order. 
The  Clerk  read  as  follows : 

Resolved,  That  the  business  of  the  House  be  now  suspended  that  oppor- 
tunity may  be  given  for  tributes  to  the  memory  of  the  Hon.  FRANCIS  B. 
SPINOLA,  late  a  Representative  from  the  State  of  New  York. 

Resolved,  That  as  a  particular  mark  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the 
deceased  and  in  recognition  of  his  eminent  abilities  as  a  distinguished 
public  servant  the  House,  at  the  conclusion  of  these  memorial  proceedings, 
shall  stand  adjourned. 

Resolved,  That  the  Clerk  communicate  these  resolutions  to  the  Senate. 

Resolved,  That  the  Clerk  be  instructed  to  send  a  copy  of  these  resolu- 
tions to  the  family  of  the  deceased. 


Life  and  Character  of  Francis  B.  Spinola.  43 

Mr.  GUMMING^.  Mr.  Speaker,  I  move  the  adoption  of  the 
resolutions. 

The  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted. 

The  SPEAKER  pro  tempore  (Mr.  Wilson  of  Missouri  in  the 
chair).  In  accordance  with  the  second  resolution  just  passed, 
the  House  stands  adjourned  until  Monday,  March  28,  at  12 
o'clock  m. 

Accordingly  (at  3  o'clock  and  46  minutes  p.  m.)  the  House 
adjourned. 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  SENATE. 


EULOGIES. 


FEBRUARY  25, 1893. 

Mr.  HILL.  I  now  ask  that  the  resolutions  from  the  House 
of  Eepresentatives  relative  to  the  death  of  the  late  FRANCIS 
B.  SPINOLA  may  be  laid  before  the  Senate. 

The  VICE-PRESIDENT.  The  Chair  lays  before  the  Senate 
resolutions  froni  the  House  of  Bepresentativ.es;  which  will  be 
read. 

The  Chief  Clerk  read  as  follows : 

Resolved,  That  the  business  of  the  House  be  now  suspended  that  op- 
portunity may  be  given  for  tributes  to  the  memory  of  the  Hon.  FRANCIS 
B.  SPINOLA,  late  a  Representative  from  the  State  of  New  York. 

Resolved,  That  as  a  particular  mark  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the 
deceased,  and  in  recognition  of  his  eminent  abilities  as  a  distinguished 
public  servant,  the  House,  at  the  conclusion  of  these  memorial  proceed- 
ings, shall  stand  adjourned. 

Resolved,  That  the  Clerk  communicate  these  resolutions  to  the  Senate. 

Resolved,  That  the  Clerk  be  instructed  to  send  a  copy  of  these  resolu- 
tions to  the  family  of  the  deceased. 

Mr.  HILL.    I  offer  the  resolutions,  which  I  send  to  the  desk. 
The  VICE-PRESIDENT.    The  resolutions  will  be  read. 
The  Chief  Glerk  read  as  follows : 

Resolved,  That  the  Senate  has  heard  with  profound  sorrow  the  announce- 
ment of  the  death  of  Hon.  FRANCIS  B.  SPINOLA,  late  a  Representative  from 

the  State  of  New  York. 

45 


46  Address  of  Mr.  Hill,  of  New  York,  on  the 

Resolved,  That  the  business  of  the  Senate  he  now  suspended  in  order 
that  fitting  tribute  he  paid  to  his  memory. 

Resolved,  That  in  the  death  of  Gen.  SPINOLA,  the  country  has  lost  a 
gallant  soldier,  an  able  and  faithful  Representative  in  Congress,  and  an 
esteemed  and  patriotic  citizen.  . 


ADDRESS  OF  MR.  HILL,  OF  NEW  YORK. 

Mr.  PRESIDENT  :  The  resolutions  passed  by  the  other  House 
during  the  last  session  of  the  present  Congress  duly  informed 
us  of  the  death  of  FRANCIS  B.  SPINOLA,  of  New  York,  an  hon- 
ored Bepresentative  of  that  body.  The  delay  in  taking  action 
thereon  in  the  Senate  has  been  occasioned  solely  by  a  misap- 
prehension as  to  whose  province  it  was  to  call  up  the  resolu- 
tions and  institute  further  action.  The  death  of  Gen.  SPINOLA 
occurred  before  I  took  my  seat  in  this  Chamber,  and  he  having 
been  of  my  own  political  faith  my  colleague  kindly  and  court- 
eously waited  for  me  to  take  the  initiative  in  the  proceedings 
to  appropriately  pay  tribute  to  the  memory  of  the  deceased. 

The  elaborate  eulogies  upon  the  character  and  public  services 
of  this  distinguished  citizen  in  the  other  House,  which  have 
already  been  placed  upon  the  records  of  Congress,  render  my 
task  a  brief  one.  His  immediate  associates,  with  whom  he  had 
served  in  Congress  so  long  and  acceptably,  have  in  their  able 
and  interesting  addresses  described  the  incidents  of  his  early 
life,  the  details  of  his  successful  business  career,  his  political 
achievements,  the  laurels  which  he  won  as  a  soldier,  his  abili- 
ties as  a  debater,  and  his  many  excellent  qualities  of  mind  and 
heart.  Not  caring  to  repeat  what  they  have  so  fully  delineated, 
I  content  myself  with  a  bare  reference  to  the  positions  which 
he  filled  and  honored,  the  triumphs  which  he  secured,  and  the 
general  characteristics  of  the  man. 

Permit  me  to  remark  that  few  men  in  Congress  have  been 


Life  and  Character  of  Francis  B.  Spinola.  47 

more  frequently  or  highly  honored.  He  enjoyed  a  long,  varied, 
and  brilliant  public  career,  evidencing  the  full  confidence  of 
his  fellow-citizens,  and  the  general  satisfaction  with  which  he 
discharged  every  public  trust.  He  was  alderman,  supervisor, 
several  times  an  assemblyman  in  New  York,  State  senator, 
brigadier-general  of  volunteers,  and  three  times  elected  to 
Congress.  His  rise  was  not  sudden.  He  did  not  jump  from 
obscurity  into  exalted  position,  unprepared  for  the  discharge 
of  great  duties.  No  freak  of  fortune  or  of  politics  brought  him 
to  the  front  5  but  he  was  a  plodder,  a  worker,  a  faithful,  indus- 
trious, and  energetic  citizen,  and  largely  the  architect  of  his 
own  deserved  success. 

He  was  a  partisan  in  the  best  sense  of  the  term.  He  believed 
in  his  side.  He  regarded  party  organization  as  essential  to 
permanent  political  success,  and  he  never  despised  the  ladder 
which  had  repeatedly  elevated  him  to  power.  He  was  also  a 
patriot  and  a  soldier.  He  was  a  fighter  by  nature  and  taste; 
he  loved  strife.  He  was  quick  to  resent  a  wrong,  and  always 
ready  to  forgive.  He  was  impulsive,  clear-headed,  brave,  and 
generous. 

He  was  not  only  true  to  his  country — he  was  true  to  his 
party  and  to  his  friends.  He  believed  in  personal  friendships 
in  public  life,  and  he  hated  his  ''enemies,  persecutors,  and 
slanderers." 

Competent  military  men  and  critics  believe  that  had  the 
right  opportunity  occurred,  he  would  have  shown  himself  to 
be  one  of  the  great  soldiers  of  the  times.  The  records  of  his 
gallantry  are  found  in  the  archives  of  the  nation,  and  in  the 
general  orders  and  reports  of  his  superior  officers. 

He  was  audacious,  courageous,  and  firm,  and  was  apparently 
"born  to  command."  He  loved  his  soldiers,  and  they  in  turn 
loved  him. 

His  record  in  Congress  was  most  creditable.     He  was  a 


48          Address  of  Mr.  Hiscock,  of  New  York,  on  the 

ready  debater,  quick  at  repartee,  full  of  sarcasm,  and  liad 
a  keen  appreciation  of  the  humorous.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
in  Congress  he  was  able,  alert,  patriotic,  and  zealous  in  the 
performance  of  his  high  and  responsible  duties.  His  friends 
believed  in  him — loved,  honored  and  respected  him. 

I  knew  him  as  a  leading  citizen  of  New  York,  as  a  prom 
inent  and  trusted  business  man.  I  knew  him  an  eminent  mem- 
ber of  the  legislature.  I  knew  him  to  be  a  true  friend. 

Columns  of  eulogy  are  not  needed  to  show  our  appreciation 
of  his  public  and  private  services,  or  to  evidence  the  loss  we 
have  sustained  in  his  departure.  He  has  fought  the  good 
fight  and  gone  to  his  reward.  A  good  man  has  fallen,  and 
the  people  mourn.  More  brilliant,  more  able,  more  renowned 
men  have  adorned  seats  in  the  Congress  of  the  nation ;  but 
none  more  patriotic,  none  more  sincere,  none  more  trustworthy 
than  FRANCIS  B.  SPINOLA. 


ADDRESS  OF  MR.  HISCOCK,  OF  NEW  YORK. 

Mr.  PRESIDENT  :  Gen.  SPINOLA  was  a  marked  character  in 
the  State  of  New  York  where  he  was  born  and  lived  all  his  life, 
the  State  he  represented  in  the  other  branch  of  Congress  at 
the  time  of  his  death.  Entering  public  life  at  the  age  of  22 
years  he  was  continuously,  until  the  time  of  his  death,  about 
fifty  years  later,  before  the  people  of  his  State,  representing  a 
constituency,  either  in  the  city  of  his  residence,  at  the  State 
capital  in  Albany,  or  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

It  is  rarely  that  a  member  of  a  political  party  maintains 
the  hold  he  did  upon  his  party  organization  and  the  people  of 
the  community  amongst  whom  he  lived  for  so  long  a  period  of 
time.  That  is  especially  true  of  public  men  in  the  State  of 
New  York.  He  never  aspired  to  be  the  absolute  leader  of  his 


Life  and  Character  of  Francis  B.  Spinola.  49 

party.  Those  ineu  fell  or  were  displaced  by  others ;  but  Gen. 
SPINOLA  in  all  the  changes  which  took  place,  held  a  promi- 
nent position  and  possessed  the  confidence  of  his  friends  and 
constituents. 

Sir,  while  this  was  true  of  him,  he  was  a  man  of  strong  con- 
victions, and  positive  opinions,  and  expressed  them  in  lan- 
guage that  was  neither  uncertain  nor  equivocal. 

Gen.  SPINOLA  maintained  his  mental  vigor  to  the  last,  and 
doubtless  the  hold  which  he  retained  upon  his  party  was  due 
largely  to  that  fact.  Never  since  I  had  the  honor  to  know  him 
has  there  been  a  time  when  he  was  not  a  trusted  counselor 
in  the  political  organizations  of  his  party.  His  life  was  mainly 
devoted  to  politics  and  to  political  matters,  yet  he  was  not  a 
careful  builder  of  political  fortunes,  and  the  position  which 
he  held  so  long  was  not  due  especially  to  his  adroitness  or 
manipulations,  but  his  success  was  rather  the  result  of  his  bold? 
audacious  championship,  and  the  absolute  confidence  in  his 
integrity  entertained  by  his  friends  and  concurred  in  by  his 
opponents. 

He  was  the  survivor  of  a  generation  of  leaders  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  in  New  York — great  men — who  held  a  marked 
place  in  national  and  State  councils;  and  I  sometimes  think 
that  with  their  death  and  with  the  death  of  men  like  Gen. 
SPINOLA,  the  last  survivor  whom  I  now  recall  of  that  class  of 
men  in  the  State  of  New  York,  the  country  has  lost  largely, 
because  there  has  been  a  loss  of  their  methods  and  that  high 
integrity  in  political  management  which  they  dictated. 

Gen.  SPINOLA  scarcely  attained  a  great  national  reputation; 
and  that  is  true  of  very  many  able  and  influential  citizens  of 
New  York  in  public  life  then,  who  content  themselves  with  the 
honors  and  positions  which  are  bestowed  by  their  friends  and 
their  party  in  their  own  State  rather  than  seek  national  repu- 
tation or  position.  He,  however,  was  possessed  of  such  ability 

H.  Mis.  102 4 


50  Address  of  Mr.  Hiscock,  of  New  York. 

that  had  he,  earlier  in  life,  sought  a  position  in  the  national 
Congress  or  in  connection  with  the  National  Government,  he 
could  have  sustained  himself  as  ably  there  as  he  did  in  the 
legislature  of  his  own  State  or  in  the  other  positions  with 
which  he  was  honored  at  home. 

Mr.  President,  I  move  the  adoption  of  the  resolutions  sub- 
mitted by  my  colleague. 

The  VICE-PRESIDENT.  The  question  is  on  the  adoption  of 
the  resolutions. 

The  resolutions  were  unanimously  agreed  to. 

Mr.  HISCOCK.  I  offer,  Mr.  President,  the  resolution  which  I 
send  to  the  desk. 

The  VICE-PRESIDENT.  The  resolution  will  be  read. 

The  resolution  was  read,  as  follows : 

Resolved,  That  as  an  additional  mark  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the 
deceased,  the  Senate  do  now  adjourn. 

The  VICE-PRESIDENT.  The  question  is  on  the  adoption  of 
the  resolution. 

The  resolution  was  agreed  to ;  and  thereupon  (at  5  o'clock  and 
23  minutes  p.  m.)  the  Senate  adjourned  until  Monday,  February 
27, 1893,  at  11  o'clock  a.  m. 


THE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  SANTA  CRUZ 


This  book  is  du«  on  the  last  DATE  stamped  below. 

'  ~~~~~~ 


60TO-6,'67(H2523s8)2373 


3  2106  00061    4187 


